Undertale: Run Or Repent
by mortimer012
Summary: the genocide run had nearly reached its climax, but was stopped by a comedic skeleton, he stopped the killer and saved her but what will happen now? can Sans TRULY forgive Frisk? will she be able to come to terms with what she's done? ... or will something far more sinister deep inside the young human return? Special shoutout and thanks to IriaofSkyfall at deviant art for cover :D
1. Chapter 1 Lost's Return

How many times? How many times has it been? Seven? Eight? Damn, why? Why are you doing this? Please kid, tell me…

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING FRISK!?"

Sans was merciless as het ended the life of the human child, his skeletal abilities completely tearing her body apart, as he had done so many times, he waited for her to do it, to return them again, to 'reset' everything once more.

The comedic skeleton looked at her, such a frail, innocent little girl, he could barely remember how she was before, before this, all he could see now, was the blood on her hands, the girl murdered everyone and there was nothing he could do to stop her, he reached for the scarf around his neck, the soft material, his brothers, it only filled him with anger, blinding him from the true horror that was rising.

Frisk, or whatever it was that carried her name now, used her power, reset, but her timing couldn't have been worse.

Sans felt nothing for her, not anymore, he was consumed by the hate, the timeline had barely continued and he launched another barrage of attacks, catching her off guard, again and again, he lost count, it was, natural almost.

Only a single tear was able to crack past the hellish onslaught, Sans froze when he saw it slipping down from her cheek, the girl she, collapsed after the timeline reset, crying.

"What? What's this? You looking for pity? Well sorry kid, I'm bone dry."

Another barrage of attacks headed to her, stopping right against her head.

Frisk, called out for Toriel.

He couldn't do it, Sans held his attack in position, he wanted to end it, but something was stopping him.

Frisk, whispered something, through her tears, before forcing herself up, into the attack as hard as she could.

When she died, she smiled, a painful smile but a smile nonetheless.

Sans couldn't understand, why? Why did she do that, what did she say…

The little girl's actions, made no sense, less so when the reset, never came.

"So, you finally gave in huh?"

Her soul rose from her body, the small heart containing her very being, sans grabbed it, held it, tightly.

"You think I'm just going to let you go? Uh uh…"

He started to squeeze the soul, he was going to crush it, to have your life ended was one thing, but when your soul was destroyed, it was a nightmare, far far worse.

He was about to crush the soul, and do so gladly when a darkness wrapped around it, pulling it free from his grasp, pulling it back into her body.

It startled Sans, this was the first time it had happened that he could remember, that he encountered such an, unnatural force.

The soul itself seemed to struggle, like it wanted to break free, but, whatever it was that pulled it back, it didn't let it go.

Frisk suddenly gasped for air, but it made little sense, her lungs were punctured, her heart was torn open, she grinned, something sinister.

Her hand moved, reaching for her mysterious reset ability, it was different, Sans had never seen it, until now, barely there, the word, RESET appeared.

"Still got some fight in you huh? Well, forget about it."

He summoned a Gaster blaster over Frisk, and fired, destroying her, and the reset, at the exact moment that she used her power

Something happened, they reset, but Frisk screamed in pain immediately as she started to shine whitish blue.

The same darkness that gripped her soul in the last reset, it appeared, swirling around her but it was forced back, Sans could hear the nightmarish howl of a thousand cries echo out as the darkness spread away from her.

She collapsed, her soul rising from her dimming body, Sans gripped it again and was about to squeeze it till it popped but, he couldn't.

The kid was asleep, he couldn't feel any murderous intent from her, she was, different, innocent.

" _Come on Sans, this is another trick, just do this and get it over with before she wakes up again, it'll be easy, just squeeze till it pops… damn it sans, why aren't you doing it? "_

He stayed there, unmoving, the heart shaped soul from the kid in his boney hand but, he couldn't do it, he just, couldn't bring himself to end it.

Sans convinced himself he needed answers first, yeah, he needed to question her first, find out why she did it all, than, than he would, he would kill her.

Returning her soul to its body Sans found himself, smiling, he couldn't believe it, he was happy that he was saving the kid.

Sans was dead tired, after he returned the kid's soul, he tied her up, tightly, several times, before tying another rope around her entire torso, with the knot at her upper back, followed by tying her to one of the stone columns in the hall of judgment, after he was certain that she wasn't going anywhere he left her and headed to grillby's.

It was, haunting.

The place was empty, there was still some stuff lying around, everyone left in a rush, even grillby himself had left some of his burger patties on the grill, they were charred black and hard long ago.

Sitting on his favorite chair Sans sighed, reaching for the ketchup and opening the bottle, he couldn't even drink it.

Putting the bottle back where it was with the cap back on the skeleton sighed, leaving grillby's all-together and standing in the snow.

He felt, cold, not from the snow or the winds, but from the memories that returned.

Everyone else that was here, the monster kids running and having fun, the shop owners making deals, Papyrus talking about how great he was, it was so nice, but, he remembered seeing how Frisk, walked through there, leaving death in her wake, forcing the evacuation…

Killing Papyrus…

Those damned memories hurt, leaving him alone, cold.

Sans didn't want to think about it, he left them be and headed back to her, back to his prisoner, back to Frisk.

* * *

" _on days like these, kids like you, should be burning in hell… you're enjoying this aren't you… Looking for pity? Sorry kid, I'm bone dry."_

"You got dunked on."

Frisk woke in a fright when she heard those words, she saw Sans standing a few feet from her and screamed in fear, trying to get away, only to realize her predicament, she was going NOWHERE.

She carried on for several minutes before resorting to begging, pleading him not to kill her, not again.

Sans didn't know how to react, this, wasn't what was supposed to happen, he just stayed where he was, held there by a part of him that felt she was just trying to play him to free her.

"Hay, hay kid…"

Nothing, Frisk didn't hear him, she was too terrified, but he wasn't going to let her go.

"Stop…"

…

"Kid, stop…"

…

"FRISK STOP!"

His reaction surprised them both but it got results, Frisk fell quiet, looking at him in horror, tears still running down her face.

"Tell me why, why did you do this?"

No answer, she couldn't bring herself to reply to him, not after everything that had happened.

"Well?"

She only closed her eyes and looked to the ground.

"Not ready to talk huh? Fine, I can wait."

It felt like hours, neither said anything, Frisk sobbed quietly, afraid that she would make Sans angry again, but he wished she did, at least than he wouldn't be left with his memories, he was scared.

Finally the semi silence was shattered by a growling noise.

The little human was shocked and it made Sans laugh when he saw the expression on her face.

"A little hungry huh? Don't worry, I'll get you something."

He left her alone but it only worsened her mood.

She was left alone, trapped and forced to think of what she had done.

"I don't want to die, but you won't believe me, you'll just hurt me, again."

…

"No one wants to die kid, but why did you do it?"…

Sans sighed, he wanted to know what it was that happened to her, why did she do what she did, did it have something to do with, whatever that darkness was?

He had heard of something like this from Gaster before he vanished, but, he could barely remember what it was…

" _Gaster, now there's someone I haven't thought of in a long time, man, I can't even remember how he looked."_

Sans sighed, he felt bad that he barely remembered Gaster, but he had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

Both sans and frisk's thoughts headed to one thing in particular, the gaster blaster hitting frisk as she reset, the skeleton was worried about what kind of effect that would have on her timeline powers, while the human girl, she attempted to open her 'Save File' only to see it, shattered, the pieces of her 'profile' pieced together like broken glass, her power was broken.

A part of frisk felt glad, she wouldn't have to endure another reset, if she died now, she died for good, there was no return.

But she was in a world so, so empty, with everyone hating her, with, with him, with Sans, her killer.


	2. Chapter 2 Uncertainty

Judgment hall, usually a lonely place, with a visitor now and then headed to the king, now however it seemed to have two permanent residents.

Sans had brought Frisk a hotcat, and slowly fed the kid, he didn't trust her, so if she was hungry than she was going to have to put up with this.

Frisk understood why he was doing what he was doing, she had done so much to hurt him, whenever she looked at him, she could only see his magical left eye glowing blue, when he moved, she flinched, fearing his bones, and when he stood still, she could see gaster blasters, all around him, their stares scared her.

But Sans never summoned anything, nor was his eye glowing, he tried to be as friendly as he could, despite everything she had done.

It wasn't much but the hotcat did fill up frisk.

"There, I hope it was good, I don't have the stomach to know."

He chuckled lightly but it was an awkward kind of chuckle, Frisk didn't as much as smile, she had a constant frown on her face.

"he-he… um, well…"

"Sorry."

"What did you say?"

Again Frisk said she was sorry.

"I don't want to hear that, I want to know, why. Why did you do it Frisk? Huh? WHY!"

He stopped, realizing his own response, and how it only brought back her silent cries.

" _Well done Sans, you REALLY know what you're doing huh."_

The comedic skeleton sighed in frustration, he messed up .

"I'm sorry kid, look, I just, I want to know why you did it, that's all, I won't hurt you, unless you give me a reason to."

Nothing, she still cried, he wasn't going to be getting through to her, not like this.

Sans left her be as he stood against a pillar opposite to her and closed his eyes.

He just stayed there, pretending to have fallen asleep.

Frisk couldn't remember the last time she cried like this, she looked up to sans, and was, all to glad to see that he was sleeping.

She felt, safer somehow, and relieved, he was here, he would ward off anything that would try to hurt her, but he was asleep, so he wouldn't hurt her, not right now.

She thought of struggling against the rope, but she could tell by the pressure on her arms alone, she was going nowhere if she tried, and what would that serve?

"I'd throw away what little trust he has if I try to escape now." Whispered the human, afraid she'd wake him up.

She stayed there, weighing her options but the only one that made sense, that would be right, would only worsen her situation.

"If I tell him the truth, he'll never believe me, no one will, not like there's anyone else here anyway…"

She started to cry again, this time, crying herself to sleep.

Sans opened his eyes after hearing her quiet down, walking over to her, he made sure she was asleep first.

"What are you hiding kid? What aren't you telling me? Just tell me already, so I can end it…"

Nothing, no response, not like he was waiting for one anyway, Sans hated this, this feeling, he was doing what he needed to do, what he had to…

Than why did it feel like he was betraying his best friend?

The skeleton sighed before stepping away and looking to the bright gemstones that served for the underground's stars.

"Please kid, tell me, tell me why you took my brother's life."

* * *

" _You know kid, as much I like putting dogs on your head, thirty is a bit excessive…_

 _Careful, some weirdo's been going around putting whoopee cushions in people's seats…"_

" _San's thank you, for everything, you big, joker you…"_

" _Any time, Frisk, any time."_

Sans woke in a fright, he was surprised to find out that he'd fallen asleep, more so when he found himself with his head on frisk's shoulder, she may have been asleep herself but her head was resting against his gently.

When he pulled back he woke her, Frisk was confused at first, as she looked over to him, then realized what she did, she was about to say that she didn't mean to but he stopped her.

"It's alright kid, you must need to use the little human's room by now."

San's gave her no time to reply as he showed her the knife she tried to use on him, he made it clear to her that if she tried anything, than he would end her, before undoing the rope that held her to the pillar.

She could hardly believe that what he did, less so when he undid the rope around her torso, but that was it, he told her to walk, leaving her hands bound, tightly.

Frisk did as told, walking with him back to Snowdin.

The pair reached the snowy town, finding it just as abandoned as the day she walked through it.

Frisk felt ice crawl up her back at the thought that she caused this.

They both reached Grillby's, Frisk froze at the entrance as Sans opened it, the scene was haunting.

"There were good people here kid, people YOU chased away, I'd ask you why but, you won't answer will you?"

She didn't even need to look at him and he had his answer.

"Thought so, go do what you need to, and try to run, I dare you."

Sans undid the last of her bindings and waited at the entrance.

He waited for quite a while and right when he was about to go in and check on Frisk, she came back out.

Sans was surprised that she did come back and didn't try to make a run for it, she must've known that it was pointless.

"So, you didn't run, good, show me your hands."

She did, nothing was in them, he sighed, she could have grabbed something, anything to attack him with, what was she doing? Well, he wasn't going to wait to find out, instead he tied the rope around her hands again.

"Come on."

She did as told, but when they were about to step outside she shivered.

"Cold?" asked the skeleton as he noticed her sweater was torn in a few places, allowing the cold wind to slip in.

She only nodded.

Sans still hated her, but this, was too much, he sighed before giving her his hoody.

"There, use that till we're home."

" _Why are you doing this Sans? She killed everyone, she's a murderer, you shouldn't be keeping her warm!"_

"Th, thanks…"

"Heh, don't mention it kid."

Despite his thoughts, Sans was happy to hear her thanks yet when they started to walk to his home, she ran.

" _SEE! THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS!"_

He chased after her, into the forest, she was staying ahead of him somehow, despite her hands being bound, they reached the bridge heading further in and back to the door to the ruins.

"FRISK! GET BACK HERE!"

No response, she kept running, afraid of him, of what he would do to her when they were 'home', no she needed to get away, away before he could kill her.

She got over it and sans continued chasing but the skeleton slipped.

"Uh oh…"

He fell down, Sans was in reality safe, he could just-

"Wait, what?"

He wasn't falling, when he looked up he saw Frisk holding onto his boney foot as tightly as she could, she tried to pull him up but, couldn't, she wasn't strong enough .

"Hay, let go, I'm fine."

She didn't, instead she started to cry.

"Why? Why won't you leave me alone? I don't want to die…"

He realized what was going through her head, why she ran.

"Frisk, I wasn't going to kill you, we just needed to get you out of the snow."

She still didn't believe him, but she still tried to pull him up.

He sighed before telling her to try and swing him to a side, she did and was able to after a considerable amount of effort get him to grab the bridge tightly, when he got back up he saw his hoody lying in the snow, and frisk was at a tree, on the snow, hugging her legs, afraid, cold and crying.

"Frisk, hay, come on, you'll catch a cold if you stay there."

"Go, go away, you'll get hurt, please, go."

Sans picked up his hoody and sat next to her.

"I thought you were afraid of dying."

"I am…"

"So which is it now? Are you afraid of dying or of me getting hurt?"

He shook his head, trying to figure out what was going on in her mind.

"Here."

The skeleton put his hoody on her, making sure that she was completely closed.

"Look kid, I don't know what you're thinking but, you tried to save my life, so you have to have come to your senses, I won't hurt you okay, but I can't trust you on your own."

" _Oh no, he's, he's going to-"_

Frisk's thoughts were cut off when she felt his hand on her head.

"So, until you tell me what you were thinking, I'm staying with you, to make sure you don't cause any more trouble."

" _So I can stop you for good when you do cause trouble…"_

She was glad but he cut her feelings in half when he stood up and got right in front of her.

"But let's get something clear, one wrong move, I won't be so kind."

"A, Alright."

"Good, now, let's get out of here, this cold is rattling my bones."

Although more carefully than before, Sans watched Frisk as they both headed to his and Papyrus's house, he had mixed feelings about her now, she tried to save his life even at the cost of her own, yet he still couldn't let go of how he felt of her murders as they entered the house, it felt even lonelier here than in grillby's, Frisk didn't seem to make it any better either.

He didn't really care what she was going to do, the worst she could do was try to grab one of the pots in the kitchen, he made sure that it was safe.

Frisk only sat down, slipping off the hoody for Sans, as she did she saw him take off the redish orange scarf that belonged to his brother, he was careful as he cleaned it and put it down in front of his brother's room before walking back to frisk.

Pulling out the knife he sent her into a panic.

"Hay easy, Frisk it's okay, relax! I'm just, would you stop, there, finally."

She struggled pretty harshly against him, but Sans was able to eventually get to and cut the rope that held her hands tied.

She realized what he was doing and felt silly but was still scared as he held the knife.

"Sheesh, kid, you're a handful."

He remembered the knife in his hand and understood how she must've felt.

"I, I'm sorry, I should have probably just undo the knot like last time, huh?"

She didn't answer him, instead she only looked to the floor.

"So, uh, how, are you feeling?"

…

"Don't want to talk huh?"

…

"Okay, uh, well, I never properly thanked you for uh, saving me."

…

"So uh, thank you Frisk."

…

" _Sheesh, what will it take? Do I need to crack a bottle over my head to have her talk to me or what?"_

"Why aren't you killing me?"

That question silenced Sans this time.

"Well? I killed everyone you loved, why are you leaving me alive?"

Her tears returned, she didn't really want him to answer but he did.

"I need to know why you did it first, why you killed, no, why you massacred everyone, that's why I haven't killed you kid,"

He sighed and headed to his room, leaving her alone in the living room, if she tried to run again, he would know and kill her.

He couldn't help to wonder though, what was the reason, he could feel it every time he asked her, she was more afraid of the truth than of what he would do to her.


	3. Chapter 3 Misunderstood

The following days were, difficult, Sans played both the parts of a gracious host and a patient interrogator, while Frisk, she, she didn't seem to have any life in her when she was awake, doing as told, not once trying to make a run for it, she didn't even react when he pulled out her knife and held it in front of her, to Sans she felt, broken, but she didn't once tell him what he wanted to know, worse, when she went to sleep, he could hear her, screaming, every night she was having nightmares, he went to her once, intent on waking her up, but he couldn't, he saw her, thrashing about in her sleep, like she was trying to fight something off, she was sweating but, as far as he could tell, she was freezing cold…

And it felt, darker in the room than usual…

It bothered him more than it should, he actually found himself saying something the day he walked in that he didn't expect in the least.

"Damn kid, just talk to me, I want to keep you safe"

Ever since then he, questioned himself, why would he say that to the murderous Frisk, after all the destruction she caused, why would he ever want to 'keep her safe'…

The only reason he could think of, was his memory of a better time, but it didn't matter, this was the time he needed to focus on.

"Frisk… why don't you just reset? At least than we both would be back to doing something, something that made sense, at least than I wouldn't have to think of all this…"

She heard him, Frisk had been keeping an eye on him, mostly to make sure that he wasn't planning to end her, but a little because she was also concerned for him, even she could see that he wasn't the same.

But she didn't know what to do, the only answer she had to his question, was the one he wouldn't believe, unless…

Frisk smiled, maybe, just maybe, this was it…

Maybe he would believe her if she did this.

Maybe he wouldn't kill her if she did this.

Sans sat in his room, frustrated and slightly exhausted when he heard something, a loud crash, something fell, he ran out, intent on finding Frisk, if she was hurt than-

His own thoughts disturbed him, more than when he saw Frisk putting some things on the floor, in the shape of a heart.

"Kid what are you doing?"

She didn't answer and he was, curious, so he left her to finish.

What she did however, made little sense.

She finished making the heart but, only the outline.

"This, was me."

…

"Say what?"

"It was me."

He still didn't understand and brushed it off as her distracting him.

"What are you up to kid?"

"N, nothing, I'm trying-"

"Trying to keep me occupied so you can sneak away? Or were you going to attack me? Well, nice try kid, put it all back where you got it."

"S, Sans you don't-"

"Stop…Wasting...My...Time..."

To show his annoyance Sans summoned up a Gaster blaster.

Frisk was scared, why, why didn't he understand, what did she do wrong? She knew that it was something that she had to think about later, now, she needed to put it all back, before, before he, before he killed her.

As Frisk put everything back he had to wonder, was she really trying to distract him? she seemed so adamant, maybe she really was trying to tell him something…

After she was done he released the Gaster blaster, that seemed to relax her a little bit, not a lot though.

" _A heart, 'this was me?' what was that supposed to mean?"_

He went back to his room to grab a piece of paper and something to write with, drawing a heart and thinking about it.

" _A heart? 'this was me?' could she be talking 'bout her soul?"_

Sans stayed where he was, holding the paper up with the drawing on, trying to figure out what it was that Frisk was going on about; a heart? A Soul? And what did she mean by it was her?

He just couldn't understand.

He sighed in frustration, the person that would really know what she meant, if she actually meant something and wasn't trying to distract him, would be, Gaster, maybe even Alphys.

"I really should've listened more about what they said." Mumbled the skeleton, ignorant of the human just outside his door, peeking through the keyhole and hoping, only to lose that hope when he threw the paper aside.

"I really should get some sleep…"

He could sense her after he spoke, and smiled before looking straight back to her.

"Hay, you know it's not nice to listen in on someone."

She fell back in fright, and it actually made sans laugh as he got up and headed to her.

"You alright kid?"

Frisk looked up and saw Sans there, he, wasn't angry at her at all, she only nodded.

"Ha, alright, so, you ready to tell me what you meant?"

…

She wasn't

Frisk headed back to the living room and sat down on the couch, hugging her legs.

"Alright, well, uh, how about some knock, knock jokes?"

She only nodded slowly.

" _Hmm, maybe, she still is in there, somewhere…"_

Sans started his knock, knock jokes, he brought a smile to her teary face slowly but surely.

Eventually, the comedic skeleton, heard a giggle.

" _He-he, there you go kid, that's what I want to hear."_

He was surprised in himself, even after everything, he would rather just have her laugh, see her smile, know that she was, happy.

"Kid, how, how bout we go see if we can cook something up at grillby's, what you say?"

She was about to say yes but, remembered that no one would be there.

"Hay, it, it's alright, I'll, I'll make something here instead."

Sans felt like an idiot, why did he mention grillby's? he was in half a mind to slam his forehead against the wall…

Frisk could hear Sans in the kitchen, sure there wasn't a lot of things there but, somehow, he managed to get attacked by some of the frozen meals in the fridge, slip and fall, get bombarded by flying trash and, nearly burn his hoody while he was at it.

The whole scene sounded so bizarre, and silly that Frisk couldn't help but giggle, she however couldn't take it, she headed to the kitchen and moved Sans aside.

Despite her young age, Frisk was a natural chef, she was able to somehow, with the limited ingredients available to them, make a rather delicious meal, Sans barely helped her at all, she did ask him to do one or two things but otherwise, it was all her work, she even smacked Sans's hand when he tried to slip his finger into the sauce.

Sans took one quick sniff of the meal, and he was hooked, it had an impeccable aroma to it, not too strong to be overwhelming, but just enough to keep interest, it wasn't too savory, nor too, 'meaty', and somehow there was a sweet scent in it that fit in surprisingly well.

She dished up the meal for them both and gave Sans a plate, he could tell that Frisk was waiting on him and thought of teasing her a little but, couldn't bring himself to do it, couldn't even bring himself to jokingly ask if she poisoned it, but that thought did come to mind.

Cautiously Sans took a bite, and froze.

…

Frisk poked Sans, he wasn't moving, she started to worry.

Did she… Did she… Did she…?

Her mind started to race, her breathing sped up, she started to tremble as she backed away from Sans, fear had gripped her again as she looked to her hands in horror.

" _I KILLED HIM!?"_

" _No, no, no, no, what have I done? Sans I'm-"_

"Kid…"

Looking straight up to Sans, he was handing her an empty plate

"Could uh, I get some more?"

She leaped at him with open arms, making the pair nearly fall back.

She started to cry on his shoulder before saying yes.

"Huh, you don't get a lot of compliments on your cooking do you?"

She laughed softly as she tightened her hug.

"Kid you're smothering me."

His response had her loosen up and let go of him, she was smiling widely with some remaining tears sliding down her cheeks, she quickly wiped them off and gave Sans some more.

" _So she really wasn't trying to kill me huh? What was that a moment ago anyway? Ah well, she makes great food, she could've taught pappy a thing or two."_

Sans tried his best to hide his saddened mood with the thought of papyrus

"S, Sans?"

He looked up and saw something in Frisk's eyes that, shouldn't be in the eyes of a cold killer.

Concern…

"Sorry kid, you say something?"

She shook her head, but her smile was gone.

" _Damn, I need to be more careful, I can't let her see that again…"_

They both finished their meal, even Frisk was surprised at her culinary masterpiece, afterwards she even cleaned everything on her own, all the while Sans watched her silently, looking for her killer side to resurface so he would have a reason to end it, once and for all.

…

But she never showed any hostile intent, she even froze up a bit when she used the knife to make the food.

It unnerved Sans, it was like she was a completely different person all together now.

But still he remained suspicious of her.

Frisk had completely turned Sans's opinion of her upside down, as the week came to an end she had given him every reason to trust her, to believe that she wasn't the same monster that did everything, but it was too good, especially considering that the only thing she did that even hinted at what he really wanted to know made no sense to him.

He always found himself going back to the drawing he made, the heart with the same question over and over in his head.

" _What were you trying to show me?"_

The comedic skeleton had his mental question disrupted when he saw Frisk standing over Papyrus's scarf, she only looked at it, not moving, it had become a routine but something was different this time.

She fell to her knees in front of the scarf and reached to it.

Sans was about to grab her with his powers but she reached the scarf first, she only touched it gently, he could see a smile as she slowly picked it up and hugged it, she held it tightly.

"I miss you, Papyrus… I'm, so sorry…"

She kept holding onto it, like it meant a lot to her, not noticing her watcher until he was right behind her.

"S, Sans!"

She panicked, and dropped the scarf, he didn't have anything to say to her, Frisk's action took him completely by surprise.


	4. Chapter 4 Fear

Sans didn't know what to do, he kept hearing her words repeating over and over in his head.

Eventually it became too much.

"Frisk… Why?"

She looked at him, confused but her expression had him snap.

San's magical eye lit up like wildfire in a dry field, and Gaster blasters appeared behind him

"WHY DID YOU DO IT!?"

Frisk was horrified, she couldn't even answer him.

"Tell me, Why Frisk? Wasn't Tori Enough? Huh? You had to take my brother too? And then everyone else that couldn't escape, why? WHY?"

The little human girl knew it, one of her nightmares had arrived, had come to haunt her in reality, she tried to back up but she bumped into something, something cold.

She didn't even need to turn around to know, it was another Gaster Blaster.

"Tell me Frisk, Tell me NOW!"

…

"Not talking huh? Well-"

Frisk collapsed, she fell down completely, her face was plastered with varying degrees of fear.

"Frisk?"

…

Sans came to his senses, releasing his summons and heading to the girl, despite how he felt a moment ago, the comedic skeleton felt an ocean of relief as he inspected her, she was just unconscious.

"I, I'm sorry kid, I must've given you quite the scare huh?"

" _No jokes you dingus, just, let's stay focused."_

He picked up the human girl, she was surprisingly light for her age, lighter than he remembered.

Sans ignored that, probably his imagination, instead he took her into Papyrus's room, putting her on his bed.

"Sorry kid."

She was still scared, even though she was unconscious, Sans felt, disappointed, in himself, he sighed in frustration before sitting down, his back against the race car bed.

"I just, I don't know what came over me Frisk, I, I'm scared, I'm scared and tired…"

" _Why? Why am I saying this? I'm not lying but still…"_

"I just want the old Frisk back, the one that, that mattered to me you know? I just wanna head to grillby's and have some fries with ya kid, I don't want to always be careful around you, be worried about when you'll come for me next, I can't trust you like this, I just, I can't…"

" _Come on Sans, stop it man, she ain't hearing anything, you don't need to say anything more-"_

"I'll never have the old Frisk back will I kid?"

He reached into the pocket of his hoody and pulled out the drawing again, looking at it.

"This has to be part of it, what does this mean? huh, I guess I should've let ya finish telling me first right kid? I'm such a bonehead sometimes."

He just sat there, speaking, wishing, apologizing, hoping, laughing, in the end, he knew one thing, it was for nothing, she was asleep, scared witless of him, he knew that he shouldn't be surprised if she tried to run away when she woke up and accepted that, as long as she didn't try to kill anyone, he wouldn't try to stop her.

"Heh, I guess I'm just not-"

…

…

Sans brought up the paper with the drawing on it, staring at it.

"I'm just not, determined to stop you…"

…

He realized now, why she wasn't fighting him, why she just collapsed out of fear.

Frisk had no determination left inside her anymore, she was, a human husk, hollow, doing as told and staying afraid of everything.

Sans slammed the back of his head against the bed's side, he did this to her, he didn't just keep her alive for answers, he did it, to punish her.

" _No I didn't, I just…"_

No matter how long he argued he knew deep down, he must've wanted her to be hurt, for her to know that what she did was wrong…

But that part died.

Sans still wanted answers, but he couldn't accept the idea of keeping her like that.

He needed help, he needed lots of it but everyone else that survived was with alphys, safe and sound, he couldn't risk bringing her to them, or even letting her know that they survived, whatever it was that drove her to mass genocide in the first place, it could resurface…

No, he had to, had to…

" _Huh, I need, to call a friend."_

As sans pulled out his phone he couldn't help but wonder, what kind of mood he was in.

Frisk slowly stirred, opening her eyes cautiously she asked out loud.

"Am, I dead?"

"Heh, not yet kid-"

She heard that voice and squealed even before she saw Sans by her side.

"Sheesh, you can wake the dead with that you know?"

Despite his attempted joke she immediately attempted to run.

He didn't stop her, but she didn't know that, her imagination running wild with the thought of how he was coming for her, how he was going to make her pay.

Sans looked at Frisk from a window, he sighed, she reacted like he expected, but still, it didn't help, the part of him that felt guilty about what he did to her, outweighed the part that felt angry at her for what she did…

Frisk found refuge in an old cave, she didn't even know where she was or where she was headed until she saw it.

An old statue with rain falling on it, she remembered it vaguely.

No thought went into her action, she did what felt right, the thought of Sans coming for her was gone, she went looking for the box, the box she knew was here somewhere, filled with umbrella's

She found it and took one, a nice bright red one, the rain didn't even bother her as she made her way back and placed the open the umbrella.

The rain stopped tapping against the statue, and somehow the cold stone statue seemed, happy, with its bright red umbrella and all.

Music started to come from the statue, a simplistic little tune, it, comforted Frisk, made her feel, safer.

The little girl lost track of time as she sat down against the statue with the umbrella covering them both.

…

"I just want to see my friends again…"

Frisk reached out in front of her, summoning forth her mysterious power, she saw it, RESET, cracks all over it, like broken glass pieced back together, just as her 'profile' was.

She reached for it, slowly, afraid, she was going to do it.

"Hay Kid?"

She looked up in fright and saw, something.

It wasn't Sans it was, someone else, it looked like a dried out man but, it was covered completely in what looked like old wraps, yet, he moved naturally and stood without difficulty.

"You alright kid?"

As he asked her he shifted his weight to the other foot, his one hand brushing past something at his side while the other holding the umbrella he was using up.

She saw it, there was no mistake, it was a sword.

"Kid?"

He waved his hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention, well it worked, she panicked and jumped back, slamming against the statue, knocking the umbrella out of place and breaking a horn off.

"Hay, are you ok?"

Her head hurt, she banged it against the horn and the stranger could see that, he immediately put the umbrella he was holding down and grabbed her, not allowing her to try and bring a resistance as he inspected her.

…

"You're lucky kid aside from a headache you'll be fine, so mind telling me why you did that?"

She looked at him, confused, despite his iron grip, he didn't hurt her, even when he looked at her head it felt like feathers were brushing her hairs aside to see.

"The silent type huh? Is cool, everyone their own right?"

He let her go and looked at the statue.

"Now, it's probably my fault, so let's see what we can do about this horn hmm?"

She nodded slowly before picking up the broken off chunk, it was surprisingly heavy for her, but he just took it from her like it weighed nothing.

He placed the horn back where it belonged and asked the kid to unroll some of the wrapping around his arm.

She looked at him, not moving.

"Come on, it won't bite you."

She did as he asked, only a little bit, which he asked her to wrap around the broken section of the horn and the main statue.

It held the horn in place, that surprised Frisk, more so when the wrapping was removed, the statue's horn was back to the way it was before she bumped it, she gave him a quizzing look, which only made him laugh a little.

"Magic, I'd rather not get into the specifics, but, please keep that wrapping, if anything happens than you should at least have something to help you out huh? Just remember to clean it in water after you use it on yourself okay?"

She only nodded as she watched him in amazement, this, this person, he was, so strange and wonderful to her.

He noticed her eyes on him even after he put the fallen umbrella back in place.

"So kid, mind telling me what you're doing here?"

She looked away, his hand brushed past the hilt of his sword again, this time he noticed it and laughed.

"Oh, I'm, I'm sorry, it must be kind of scary huh?"

He reached for his side opposite of the sword, there were two little hooks, clamped tightly against each other, he undid them and took the entire belt holding his sword's sheath off, putting it under the statue's umbrella.

"Better?"

" _You probably wouldn't have done that, or any of this if you-"_

"You mind if I join you by the way? Been walking for the better part of a day, and its murder on the feet."

She just nodded and sat down where she was before, he sat next to her.

"So, how about we play a little game huh? I ask a question and you answer, you don't need to say anything, you can just nod your head, what you say?"

She nodded, still looking away from him.

"Well, you're here alone soooo, did you run away from home?"

She nodded.

"Did something happen?"

Nod.

"Did you get scared?"

Another nod.

"huh, so you came here than?"

Once more her answer came in a nod.

"Well it's a nice place, but this isn't where you belong you know that right?"

A slower nod than the others.

"Well you can always go home."

She shook her head, a clear NO.

"Oh? Afraid something will happen?"

"He, He'll hurt me."

"Who'll hurt you?"

She didn't answer.

"I'm sorry, I broke the rules a bit huh? Ha-ha well, umm, let's see, this person that will hurt you, do you really think that they will do it?"

She nodded again.

"You could, fight back you know, have them stop."

Her eyes opened wide, her thoughts returned to, to the killing, she looked at her hands, the memories flooding back to her, her mind showing the rivers of blood dripping from her hands, falling into oceans of monster dust…

"Of course, you could just talk to them you know, not everything ends in violence you know, maybe this person just seemed scary at that moment in time, you never know, maybe you could talk with them, sort everything out…"

…

"Not everything has to be done from scratch because of a hiccup in the road kid, sometimes, things need to be a bit bumpy to be just right."

She didn't know how to react to that.

They continued talking for hours, well, sort of, he had been able to bring her to laughing on occasion and he had made her feel like everything was, better.

"But, yeah, what do I know, I'm just nobody right? You know, I never did catch your name kid."

"F, Frisk."

"Frisk huh? That is an interesting name, well, Frisk, it's good to meet you, I'm Kain."

She smiled as he offered his hand to her, she took it and gave him as hearty a handshake as she could, he found it rather amusing and chuckled but when they looked up they saw Sans standing there, waiting.

"Well, I've got to go now Frisk, it was good meeting you, and, remember, sometimes it's the things that start bad that end the best."

This friendly stranger, this Kain, he stood up and took his things back, making sure that his sword was back where it belonged before walking away with his umbrella open.

…

Sans walked over to her, neither saying anything but Frisk's worries started to leak through more and more with each step.

"It really is you isn't it Frisk, the old you?"

She only smiled and reached to him to grab him in a hug, but when she wrapped her arms around him, she deflated the whoopee cushion hidden under San's hoody.

They both laughed it.

"Come on kid, enough tickling my funny bone, you must be dead cold."

She couldn't deny it, she mostly ignored the icy sensation running up and down her spine but she couldn't anymore, luckily Sans gave her his hoody.

Even though he was all bone, his clothing was toasty warm to Frisk.

As they walked back Sans looked over to the direction of where the friendly stranger had walked.

Kain stood there, barely illuminated, he was holding his sword ready but smiled before stepping into the shadows, hiding himself from even the skeleton's sight.

A few moments later Sans received a message, the number of the sender, didn't show.

" _ **YOU OWE ME"**_

Soon after he read the text, it deleted itself.

It was a silent walk back to Sans's house, despite that however Frisk seemed to be, a little bit more confident in herself, even if only a little bit.

When they reached the house frisk turned to Sans and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He only smiled.

"Hay, forgetaboutit, I should be the one saying sorry kid, I did give you a good scare huh?"

She smiled for a brief moment before remembering how scary he was.

"Hay Frisk, I hate making promises but, I'll make an exception for you this time."

That had grabbed her full attention.

"While you're the Frisk I remember, I'll only show that to anyone who'll hurt you, sound like a deal?"

She smiled widely and nodded her head.

He opened up and let her in but his thoughts went rampant with one question.

" _Sans, what did you just do old buddy?"_


	5. Chapter 5 Knowledge

"Sound like a deal?"

Frisk looked at Sans and smiled as she nodded.

Sans was happy to see the human girl smile.

But that smile stretched wide and he saw her holding a bloodied knife next to her face.

"Wh-"

He felt it, his life force, it seeped out of his ribcage, Sans looked down, only in time to see Frisk make another swipe, slicing his ribcage completely open.

He fell to his knees, looking at her in confusion, which quickly turned to horror.

In her one hand she held the bloodied knife, in the other, she held the head of papyrus.

Her clothing changed, her usual blue and purple sweater had changed, turning to green and yellow, she shrugged off Sans's hoody earlier.

The comedic skeleton's vision started to turn blurry, he was starting to fade but when he looked at her face, he was filled with confusion and a deeper sensation of dread.

Frisk had gotten rosy cheeks, the white in her eyes had turned pitch black, her iris's turned a bright red…

She threw the head of Sans's brother over her shoulder like it was trash before reaching to him, placing it gently on his cheek.

"F,Fr-"

She twirled the knife in her hand and brought that hand closer, extending her index finger out in front of his teeth, due to a lack of lips, and merely said.

"Shhhhhhhhhh"

His vision darkened, no, the world around him darkened, he could only see frisk, as her smile changed, her eyes looked hungry, her tongue slipped out, licking her lips quickly as she gripped the knife tightly once more, moving it to a side, and swiping once more.

Sans's head was completely severed, he felt nothing anymore, she laughed, a maniacal laugh, yet, it seemed so refined and practiced, it may as well have been a form of music, she picked up his head and turned it as she brought it closer to her.

He saw Alphys and the others, they were in front of them, all of them, burning, or melting.

"…Hmm, you see? This is what happens, when you trust a killer, but I must thank you, hm-hm, you see Sans, I never would have done this without, you, trusting, again…" Whispered Frisk in his ear, she started to giggle, quickly turning into full blown hysterical laughter.

A loud shout woke Frisk from her dream, she quickly ran to Sans, seeing the skeleton sitting upright in his bed, he was shaking, breathing heavily, sweating.

She was unsure what to do, she wanted to go to him, to, to try and make him feel better, but she saw it, he was, he was terrified, there was no telling what he would do.

She waited for him to calm down but, she was growing impatient.

Frisk took a very cautious step closer to Sans, if Sans had ears she would have seen them twitch, he looked up to her.

"H, Hay, Kid, I, I didn't wake you did i?"

She relaxed and walked closer to Sans, she could see him tense up a little bit.

" _He, he must've, had a nightmare, about me."_

"What's the matter Frisk?"

" _I, I'll do it, he should get some sleep…"_

Sans was startled when Frisk walked straight up to him and got in with him.

"Uh, kid I uh, I don't know what's gotten into you, but-"

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here, you can go to sleep now."

…

"Ha, thanks kid."

He smiled and put his arm around Frisk as he slid back into bed, she got comfy as well, it wasn't a joke, she wasn't going to leave him alone tonight.

" _What's with this kid?"_

Looking over to her he couldn't remember anything like this in any other timeline.

Until he started to think outside the box.

This did remind him of something, when he was a lot younger, but only barely.

" _Wow, I can't believe I forgot that."_

Sans was so caught up in his memories that he didn't notice Frisk was sound asleep, resting gently against him, he only realized it when a light started to dribble into his room.

Looking over to her he was surprised, and was about to say wow when he sensed something, something out of place.

The darkness, it took longer to recede than it should've…

" _Something is definitely not right."_

Before he could continue his thought he felt Frisk start to wake up next to him.

"Hay kid, sleep well?"

She nodded and smiled.

"heh, come on."

As they enjoyed breakfast Sans watched Frisk, he really didn't know how to react to that dream, it, it felt so real, even the sensation of him turning to dust when she whispered into his ear, but there was no way that this Frisk could do anything like that, he found himself looking at her sweater and asking something rather simple; "…But why a green and yellow sweater?"

His question had Frisk freeze, her eyes opened wide, he realized that he spoke out loud.

She looked up to him slowly, the look in her eyes, one that he'd seen so many times but this time, he didn't do anything, but speak.

"kid?"

…

"Hay kid?"

Still no answer, nothing in words anyway, stopped eating and slowly started to stand up.

"Frisk?"

That triggered her, she sprinted away from him but he was closer to the house's door, she ran like her life depended on it.

Sans got up and went after her, chasing the girl in the house, all the while calling out to her by name.

The chase unfortunately ended shortly, Frisk got to Papyrus's room and was backed into a corner.

She slid down the corner, she was trying her best to get as far away from Sans as she possibly could.

"Frisk! Kid cut it out!"

She screamed at him to stay away, to get back.

To leave her alone…

"Kid, Kid it's-"

He was frustrated but he was able to maintain his calm this time, mentally ordering himself to relax, to NOT snap.

Sans was able to after a small fight against her limbs flailing about wildly to block him off, grab her shoulder.

"FRISK IT'S ME! YOU'RE ALRIGHT!"

He broke her out of her fear induced state, had her focus on him.

"It's me kid. You're alright."

Slowly she reached to his face, touching him gently before grabbing him tightly in a hug.

He could feel it, she was shivering, whatever he said, it scared her witless.

The skeleton stayed there for several minutes, just holding her till she was relaxed enough to let go.

"Kid-"

"I, I, I'm, I'm sorry, you, you said-"

He hugged her first, silencing Frisk.

"shh, it's alright kid, I'm sorry, i won't say it again."

"Thank, thank you, Sans."

…

"Sans?"

"Yeah kid?"

"thanks."

"For what kid?"

"Not killing me, again."

"Heh, no problem kid."

Despite what he said, her words were haunting to him.

"… _Killing me, Again… Again…Again…"_

…

"Hay kid?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you get scared?"

He felt her tense up and try to pull him closer, like he would protect her from, something.

"I, I don't want to-"

"It's alright kid, sorry I asked…"

" _What the heck is it that has her so scared!?"_

Sans was very careful as he spoke to Frisk, picking his words before letting them loose, he didn't want her to, snap.

He did however have questions, questions that needed answering…

In the end he decided that he would do something he hasn't done in what felt like an eternity.

He went to the library with Frisk to do some research.

Despite her young age, she was quite the bookworm, it didn't bother Sans, he found it, oddly satisfying when she asked him to help with some of the bigger words in the books.

He did realize however one thing when he explained déjà vu to her, before, he often had some knowledge of coming events, some feelings of déjà vu, he knew that the timeline was reset by those feelings and 'memories to come'.

But he didn't feel any kind of déjà vu, no future memories…

He came to the conclusion that; either he was doing something right, or he was the first to endure the current timeline.

While Frisk read through a book titled MAGIC TUTORIAL he focused on something more, important.

Pulling out a book called 'Grease, The Nightmare Of Foods' he flipped off the fake cover, revealing the true book but the only thing that could be read was the name of the author; 'W. D. Gaster'.

He opened the book, this wasn't a published work, well, not one that got into circulation, more than that, those that was supposed to be made available to the public, didn't have all the info this one did…

Unfortunately, this one was also the one that was encoded.

Sans remembered only after seeing that the first page, was only in symbols, or, as Gaster called them, 'Wing Dings', that alone wasn't such a hassle, but they were 'scrambled', just in case the reader could translate the text.

" _It was a good idea to keep your stuff safe Gaster, and a good thing I still remember how to get what I need, now, this goes here, that goes…"_

Sans started to decode some of the work but the more he went through, the more he realized, this could take days for him to figure out what he needed to know because every piece of the puzzle he found, only hinted at fifteen others to see the bigger picture, to see not only what made frisk do what she did, but also, , why he wasn't repeating time, what it was that he saw in that nightmare and more importantly, why she reacted the way she did when he asked her about the sweater by accident.

…

And his eyes constantly went back to Frisk, she seemed to be staring at a patch of darkness in a corner of the misspelled library, something was, different about it, Sans felt it, whenever he looked at darkness he felt, nothing but that specific patch, he felt, it was like, the darkness, had layers to it, varying degrees of darkness inside it, it wasn't natural even in the underground…

Eventually it unnerved him too much.

"Frisk, take what you want, I'll help to carry, now."

That tone of voice, it made the hair on her head try to stand upright, she grabbed the books she found interesting and some that she felt like she would enjoy later, it was quite a lot, surprising Sans but his focus was on the darkness, it, it was like, a feeling, coming from the darkness.

It was a feeling, of confusion…

"You got everything you want?"

She nodded and looked over to him curiously.

"Good, put this with them and stand back kid."

Frisk was also rather confused but did as told, taking the book he was busy with earlier and backing up.

"Listen I don't know what you are, or why you're here, but you have one chance, get lost, and stay the hell away from Frisk."

Nothing.

"You're funeral, pal, I did try to warn you…"

Sans summoned three Gaster blasters around him, all of them fired straight at the darkness, blowing a rather large hole into the wall.

He waited, the attack luckily didn't ignite the rest of the walls despite the scorch marks around the hole, but that wasn't why he waited, he was waiting for a sign, a sensation, a feeling that whatever was inside the darkness had survived.

…

But none came.

"Hmm, alright, sorry 'bout that kid, you-" He stopped in midsentence, Frisk had a look, something between fear and joy, mixed with shock.

"Kid?"

She looked straight at him, not reply with words, but he could feel her reply.

" _Y, You, thank you…"_

He only chuckled as he released his gaster blasters.

"No problem kid, ain't no shadow gonna hurt you while I'm here."

She smiled happily at him, but Sans eyed the pile of books next to her.

"Yikes, you sure you didn't miss one?"

She just giggled as they picked up the books and headed home, the skeleton couldn't help but notice something with the books, more than half of them, was about magic, he recognized some of the titles, she wouldn't be able to understand a good chunk of what was inside the books without his help.

" _Heh, no problem kid, I'll help you as best -."_

He saw the very large, very complete dictionary in the stack of books Frisk was holding, she wanted to learn on her own, he had to suppress a laugh, Sans wouldn't stop her, but he'd still help if she asked.


	6. Chapter 6 Discoveries

It was, a long night, both Sans and Frisk stayed up till late, the former to find out as much as he could from Gaster's book, while the latter was so enthralled by the books of magic that in the end, she fell asleep in front of the book.

Sans looked over to her and smiled, she was completely out of it, he liked not only her curiosity but her thoroughness, she asked shortly after they got back home for some paper and something to write with, she wasn't just flipping through the pages, she was making notes.

The skeleton was curious, what did the little human find out?

He was cautious as he walked over to her, the pile of notes was, surprisingly large, not nearly as large as his pile, but still impressive.

He picked it up, careful not to wake her up.

The pile was face down so she could just add the latest notes to it and flip it over to go through.

" _Not bad for a little-"_

It was not the notes of a child, human or otherwise.

There was, detail, considerable amounts of it, sure it was simplistic, but it was, self-explanatory despite being summed up, she had been able to turn two books with over three hundred pages together, into little more than a dozen pages full of neatly organized notes and summaries.

Looking over to frisk he couldn't help but wonder.

How was she able to do it? And more over, why was it all focused on magic?

" _Resistance? Growth? Unlocking latent powers? Developing powers?-"_

As he flipped through the pages he remembered, in more than one timeline Frisk and Alphys became good friends and the royal scientist was able to teach the human, help her with her studies, but he couldn't remember why she reset those timelines.

" _So she remembers what Alphys taught her? Alright, but, why would sh-"_

He stopped when the title of a certain page caught his eye.

'Magic Power'

'Most likely effects on others from constant exposure'

" _What the, since when did-"_

He remembered now, while he was busy deciphering, she was flipping through several books at once, this must have been what she was doing.

The page was almost entirely from the differing effects, none of them she would have needed to worry about but at the bottom he saw it

'Reset Effects'

His eyes were glued to that and the following lines.

'Most likely effects include, sense of déjà vu, possibility of memories surviving usage of power.'

Just the usual things that he was used to, until he saw something else.

'Resets could cause moments of loss in control, differing from less patience to hallucinations and at worst, it is likely to cause damage to not only my soul, but those around me too…'

He turned the page, this, how? Research into souls was Alphys's field of expertise, and Gaster's specialty, only Alphys and Sans knew that Gaster was a genius in soul research but that was for a different reason, he was hunting for as much information as he could in the magic of monsters and more importantly, the magic of humans.

He needed to know more.

'Reset Power seems to have a clear effect on Sans(I'M SO SORRY) meaning either his own research must either have made him more susceptible, or it was a lie.'

" _It wasn't a lie kid."_

'Regardless, it is abundantly clear his soul has absorbed a portion of the Reset power, likely not enough for him to reset on his own or he would have used it, regardless, he is aware of the reset… he saw it form…'

" _Yeah no kidding."_ Thought Sans as he remembered back then, it was barely there, but it was still visible enough for him.

'Reset seems unique but absorbable, maybe further resets in his presence will provide a possible form of transference, further research needed for conclusion.'

" _Ha, yeah right, like I… would… allow that."_

As his thought was complete he saw the next line, the answer to his coming question.

'Even if confirmed as a possible transfer, testing is impossible. Power has become, unstable, Sans's Gaster Blaster damaged it, Profile, Load, Save, Reset, all are shattered, any attempt to use power will be unlikely to succeed, at best my soul will be split in half from the strain, at worst, I will tear the timeline apart along with my body, leaving my scarred soul lost, unable to fade.'

That left Sans speechless, that little bit of knowledge, he looked back to the notes, seeing something else.

'Gaster Blaster likely scarred my soul, if my power was given to Sans, he, he could reset, unlikely that I will remember without the correct phrase, sensation, smell, something to trigger my memories, but he will have command over the timeline, he would be capable of stopping my power in its tracks.'

He found a tiny bit of hope, but that was quickly shot down.

'Sans has no way to stop me and keep me alive, if he gets my power and comes for me, he should, no, he MUST kill me, it's the only way to stop me, I don't want to die, but if and when he Resets, it must be done… I'm sorry Papyrus for what I did, I promise, I'll find a way to give Sans my powers, even if it's the last thing I do.'

…

After reading through some more he put down the notes, back the way they were, he couldn't read further, he thought she would try to find a way to heal her power or her soul if she was right, but instead, Frisk gave in, she accepted her own defeat, instead, she was trying to find a way to, give him her powers, she wanted him to stop her, to somehow go back, and kill her.

Looking over to the books he felt a tiny sparkle of relief, there was no way she would be able to figure out how to do it.

…

The answer was here, in the room with them and Sans felt it, like icy fingers, scratching at his back.

Frisk's only hope to find out what she needed, was also holding the knowledge that Sans was so desperately hunting for.

Turning slowly the skeleton came to a cross roads as he looked at the book.

W. D. Gaster's book, the collected knowledge he had gathered alone and alongside Sans as well as Alphys, it was all in there, encoded sure, but if Frisk got her hands on it, found out how to decode it…

She would discover what she needed to know, and much more.

She would find out, it was possible, but costly.

He headed to the book and grabbed it, walking out, he headed to the trash bin in the kitchen, about to throw it in.

…

But he couldn't.

Everything was in that book, everything he needed to find out what was happening, everything she needed, but more than that, it was, the only thing that really survived the accident, it was all he had of Gaster.

"Damn, Damn it, Kid why, just fight, why, why won't you fight me? If you did than at least I could kill you, I could forget about your 'friendship', at least long enough…"

…

"Heh."

…

"Who am I kidding?"

…

"It's really you Frisk, isn't it? I promised Toriel, I'd keep you safe…"

…

Looking at the book, he backed up until he was against a wall and slid down until he was on the floor.

"I, I can't, I can't let you find this, I'm sorry Fris-"

His senses flared, Something, was here, at first he thought it was Frisk herself but when he turned around to see no one, he accepted that, it had to be whatever was inside the darkness at the library.

He summoned up a Gaster Blaster but before he could find the exact spot, the, presence, moved, it left.

"Alright bud, I don't know what you are, I don't know why you're here, but try me, and we will see who comes out on top, I can give you a really BAD time."

…

No response.

" _Pull it together Sans, you're barking at the dark now? What's next huh? One thing at a time old pal…"_

Breathing in deeply Sans took a moment to relax, he had gotten so used to knowing what would happen, to constantly have the feeling of déjà vu that this, it was unnerving for him, it had been so long since he had to continue without certainty that it was just going to be for nothing that, this was exciting, and scary…

" _Alright, Frisk, I won't help you with what you want, but, I'll, I'll try and find something else that will help, Gaster was a genius and he had Alphys, they must've found a way to, to heal a soul…"_

Sans accepted his own reasoning, he was going to keep the book hidden from Frisk, study it in private when she was asleep, he would find what she needed to recover…

And hope like hell that she wouldn't betray him when he did…

After Sans was certain that he had hid the book in place Frisk would never find it he headed back to her, she was still asleep in front of her books.

He smiled, she seemed so innocent and defenseless now.

But he knew, she was as far from defenseless as fire was to ice, and that worried him.

What would trigger her rampage?


	7. Chapter 7 Memory

Morning's light, or the underground's equivalent slipped through the open curtains, tickling Frisk's face gently, waking her up from her slumber.

The human took a stretch as she got up.

"Hay kid, how you feeling?"

Looking over her shoulder she saw Sans and smiled, he took it as she was good.

"Come on, let's go get some grub."

They both quickly headed down to the kitchen and the skeleton backed up, letting her get to work.

...

"You know kid, for someone so small, you sure know how to make good food, where'd you learn?"

She was about to answer him but stopped, instead she just looked at the food as she made it, her mood was clearly soured by his question...

Sans was about to ask her what was wrong but chose to let her be.

Until the silence between them grew to intense for the skeleton to handle.

"So uh, you really stayed up late last night reading those books, mind uh, telling me what you were doing?"

…

"I saw a pile of notes, they're yours, right?"

She nodded before adding a strong scented spice to the meal.

"Alright, mind telling me what's in 'em?"

"Some nice things I found in the books…"

"Okay…"

Sans was screaming in his own mind, he wanted her to just tell him at least than he would be able to tell her to stop, to give up on that idea, but if she knew that he read them, it might just lock her further in the decision…

" _Maybe it's not such a bad thing you dingus, are you forgetting what she did so easily?"_

…

"Alright, bud, listen closely, this is Frisk, the REAL Frisk, so I won't be giving up on her, as long as she is still inside there, I won't kick her down, ever…"

…

He realized he did it, again…

Sans backed out of Frisk's view quietly before he walked up to a wall and slammed his forehead against it as hard as he could.

…

"Ouch…"

" _Smooth pal, real smooth…"_

" _Shut up…"_

Looking over to Frisk he didn't see any real change in her expression, maybe, she didn't hear him.

While sans wondered if Frisk heard him, she fought with her feelings.

She did indeed hear him and was glad, but she was concerned as to why he would whisper it in the first place, what was it that had brought out that sentence from the comedic skeleton?

It took quite a bit of effort for her to keep her composure.

" _He, he still cares about me?"_

" _He still cares about how to kill you…"_

She fought with her inner voice for what felt like hours, but in the end, it was fruitless.

While she hoped that he cared about her, she was constantly reminded of one thing…

Sans Mercilessly killed her, over and over and over…

It wouldn't take much effort, just a single motion with his hand, a snap of his fingers, a light of his magical eye…

She wouldn't be able to stop him.

Nor would she…

Breakfast was pretty quiet, neither of them said anything, they both screamed out for conversation but neither of them could as much as usher a noise.

After they were done and Frisk finished cleaning and packing away, Sans decided that they should go for a walk.

He didn't want to be in that room again so soon, luckily Frisk didn't argue with him over it.

They both headed to a part of the underground that Frisk hadn't seen yet, Sans called it the 'sweet spot'

They entered a closed off area, surrounded with several walls of stone, the ground was littered with several strange and wonderful flowers and there was, by some mystery, grass, everywhere, a very large gem of some sort above the 'sweet spot' offered plenty of light somehow, perhaps it extended out of the underground, catching rays of sunlight, or moonlight, depending on the time and sending it out across the gem's body, in turn illuminating the surroundings, a single large tree with silver leaves stood tall in the center of the area.

As Frisk looked around she was amazed, it was like she was back on the surface, looking at a carefully tended garden.

She even saw a small stream of water nearby, letting the fluid slip by easily.

"So kid, what you think?"

She only smiled before hugging Sans…

"It's beautiful."

"He-he…"

While she went out and enjoyed herself, he kept a very close eye on her, he didn't bring her here for simple fun, he needed to do it so he could calm his mind down a bit and this place, it offered him the most relaxing feeling in all of the underground.

But, something was off…

As he looked to Frisk he felt something, something stirring in the back of his head.

A memory of a time _LONG_ past.

" _So kid? You ready yet?"_

" _Give me a second Sans, and would you stop calling me kid? I'm over twenty already…"_

 _Sans enjoyed poking fun at her by keeping the nickname he gave her since he saw her for the first time, Frisk Dreemurr, a human that fell down and freed all monsters, adopted by the monster king and queen._

 _Despite how he remembered the little girl running around in the underground, 'dating' her brother, she was no kid anymore._

 _And that was proven over repeatedly whenever he saw her, but tonight was different._

 _They were going out dancing, a local club owned by his old friend Grillby, a living Flame yet a very patient and generous person, Sans had to admit that, although Frisk's apartment was a very nice place, it only served to make the waiting feel even longer._

 _While he was sporting a standard set of dark blue jeans alongside his favorite blue hoody, the skeleton could have sworn he felt his jaw bone drop when he saw Frisk walking down the stairs._

 _She wore a simple black T-shirt, covered by a custom sweater, a skeleton on its back with a bright blue light in it's one eye, Sans would've rolled his eyes if he had any real ones, he noticed these jackets showing up here and there, some of him, some of papyrus, some of Undyne…He wondered in his off moments where they were coming from, and she wore a rather simple blue jean as well._

 _Despite the attire, it fit exceptionally well on her, but her eyes had locked him, dark pupils, lost in oceans of bright green._

…

" _Sans?"_

" _huh?"_

" _You were staring…"_

 _He noticed Undyne standing next to a bright red Frisk, she was pretty fashionably dressed, attire more suited for a romantic night than dancing at a club._

" _I wasn't…"_

" _Hay bonehead, you were staring for the past ten seconds without moving at least once…"_

 _He chuckled embarrassedly at that fact._

" _So you gonna say something 'bout how she looks or what?"_

" _You look amazing Frisk."_

…

" _You don't get out much do you?"_

" _Hay you forget what I am fishstick, not a lot of humans are that interested in talking to a pile a bones…"_

 _The two were about to get into an argument, and it made Frisk giggle, that stopped them._

 _Instead the both laughed._

" _Well, you need to stop making these human girls jealous with how little you weigh."_

" _ha-ha, right after you give those guys at the gym a fair chance at beating you."_

 _They laughed further before finally heading their ways._

" _You really do look good Frisk…_ "

 _She smiled and took his boney hand in her own._

" _Thanks."_

"Sans?"

"Sans?"

The skeleton shook his head, he was so lost in the memory he didn't even realize that Frisk was right in front of him.

"Huh? What happened?"

"You, looked lost, are you alright?"

" _Y, Yeah, I'm fine kid…"_

" _Lost? What does she mean by-"_

He stopped in mid-thought, he could, smell something in the air, a very subtle aroma that he would've easily missed.

It was the same subtle scent that was in Frisk's apartment.

She offered him a flower, it had a unique form, its entire body seemed to be, made of crystal yet it was soft to the touch and easy to bend, not to mention, it was the source of the unique smell.

"Thanks kid."

She smiled and returned to enjoying herself.

" _What was that?"_

He couldn't deny what it was, in the end Sans decided rather to wonder about why this particular flower's scent was in Frisk's apartment.

The skeleton had completely forgotten about the passage of time as he was lost in his thoughts again, putting effort into trying to remember as much as he could, maybe there was something that he could use to convince Frisk to stop her path of thought.

But he found none, he was constantly brought back to her eyes, to her generous physique.

Something however did bother him, he felt like, something happened that night, something important between them, and after that, something dreadful happened, something, that made a chill run down his spinal cord.

When he finally came too he saw that the light had changed, it was closer to dusk and he saw, Frisk lying asleep on the ground, her head resting gently against the tree.

" _Wore yourself out huh? Cute kid…"_

He reached for Frisk, waking her up, she may have been cute, but he wasn't going to risk giving her an opening she could exploit.

She opened her eyes slowly, looking at him in confusion and surprise.

"Come on kid…"

Frisk got to her feet and quickly brushed herself off before they both started to head back.

Looking back for a moment Sans wondered again, why the flower's scent was in her apartment.

" _This could be a problem…"_


	8. Chapter 8 Questions

When Sans and Frisk arrived at the house they were both in for an interesting surprise.

Frisk was too tired to make anything but despite how lazy Sans was, how showed that he had a, decent understanding of the culinary arts, nothing quite as glamorous as Frisk's cooking, but he still made something pretty good.

"Sans, can I ask something?"

"Sure kid."

"You, remember, right?"

He hesitated for a moment, why would she ask something like that, cautiously he decided to spring whatever trap there was in the question waiting for him.

"yeah, some things…?"

"Then, if you could cook, why didn't you help-"

She stopped, realizing that, she shouldn't be asking something like this, instead she told him never mind.

But Sans, wanted to talk about it, talk about his brother.

"Pappy he, well, he was so glad when Undyne offered to teach him, it was the happiest I'd seen him in a long time, I couldn't get in the way…"

He remembered that day, Papyrus nearly broke down the door to the house in his excitement, it was like seeing a child that learned a brand new trick.

"I can understand that."

….

"What about you kid?"

"Huh?"

She looked at him, somewhat surprised.

"I'm guessing you remember everything but, what's the oldest you ever got?"

That was a question he shouldn't asked, Sans realized only too late.

"Sorry, I-"

"Thirty something, I was in my late thirties when… when I had to go back."

"Wow, I can't imagine what that must be like, to live out a full life like that and be a kid again."

"It's, it's strange like, waking from a dream, but remembering perfectly what happened."

"Hmm."

…

"You ever got together with someone?"

That question froze Frisk, she stayed motionless for a few minutes.

"Kid?"

She stopped eating, instead she left, heading to the books she was studying, stepping inside the room before answering him.

"Yes…"

She closed the door behind her.

Sans felt like an idiot, what the hell was he thinking with that question?

He couldn't eat anything further, instead he put the food in the fridge.

The skeleton walked up to the room she was in and was about to walk in, but stopped, she was crying.

" _Here's something, how about you just ask her to tell you everything that happened in her past lives, I'm sure she'd appreciate that…"_

Frustrated Sans backed off and walked outside.

Looking at his boney hands he saw them rattling, it was really getting to him, the memory that came back to him, it brought around things that, he had almost completely forgotten.

Feelings for Frisk that, didn't belong, he was glad that they were barely there, thankfully tempered by remembering what she did…

But still they were there, strong enough to unsettle him this much when he heard her tears.

The skeleton's mind was a mess, he didn't want her to see him like this, so, lost.

He started pacing, walking back and forth, ignorant of the snow falling down.

" _You really shouldn't have asked her what you did, it's amazing the kid can hold herself together like she does, she really is something else…"_

Sans tried to justify his question but even after hours of pacing in the snow, he got nowhere, he was arguing with himself, and was losing…

"…Sans?"

Frisk was standing in the doorway looking at him, again he didn't sense her presence, it was slightly unnerving for him.

"Yeah?"

…

"It's cold…"

He realized that she wanted him to come inside and walked to her.

"Yeah, it is."

They both walked back in, Frisk closing the door behind him.

…

"So, uh, kid-"

"Could you, answer something?"

"Yeah? What-"

She only raised her hand to stop him in his sentence and backed tight up against the door.

"Would, you stop me?"

"Stop you?"

She looked at him, he could see she was scared of his answer

"Stop you from what?"

"If you, could go back, would you?"

…

"What?"

"Well?"

"Kid I, I don't know what you're talking about…"

He lied, he had a good idea of what she was talking about, but wasn't going to reveal it but it only seemed to anger her a bit.

"Damn it Sans do I need to spell it out!? If you could go back in time would you kill me!?"

She gasped, startled at her action, she couldn't stay, she saw His expression change, most people would suffer when it came to reading a skeleton but, she knew him too well.

His mood was soured, his eyes, fading out, leaving behind the dark sockets, a sight that she had seen so many times when he killed her, but one that, scared her beyond recognition.

She couldn't stay.

"Just, never mind."

Frisk tried her absolute best to keep her composure as she rushed past him, returning to the books she was studying.

…

" _Would you kill me!? Would you kill me!? Would you kill me!? Would you kill me!?..."_

Sans, couldn't answer that question, he knew one day, he might need to answer it, he could try to intervene in Frisk's plan to give him her power but, he remembered one thing clearly from all the timelines.

Frisk was a resourceful little human, no matter what the challenge, she always found a solution to the problem.

He could try to stop her, but in the end, all that he was going to do, was slow her down.

His eyes returned, their fading was a sort of natural sign that he was focusing intensely on something or was overwhelmed with negative emotions, he could stay in the same place for the whole night trying to answer that question but it was irrelevant.

"Frisk, if you sent me back, I don't know what I'd do, not anymore…"

While Sans was left with his thoughts Frisk caved, she slid down against the door, she felt the familiar moist sensation running down her cheeks.

She realized only when she asked him outright what she was trying to get an answer for.

She accepted the moment that she opened the first book back in the library what she was going to need to do.

Only now did she have a taste of what fruit her work would offer her.

A hole in the ground big enough for her to rot, without anyone ever knowing who she was except Sans…

" _Maybe, a reset would work, what's the harm in trying? Maybe it's not a death sentence… "_

She had to admit, she had nothing left to lose, Frisk brought forth her power, the shattered reset forming in front of her.

" _Just, one time, one more time, it will work, it has to work…"_

With a shaky hand she reached to the reset, stopping right above it, afraid.

" _Just, DO-!"_

A boney hand broke clean through the wooden door, grabbing hold of Frisk's own.

"Frisk listen to me, Don't you dare Reset, do you hear me? Listen to me, I read your notes…"

Her eyes opened wide in shock, why didn't he say anything?

"Just, please, damaged powers are, lethal, I know of only one person that used a shattered power, you DON'T want to find out what happened to him!"

She, slowly said alright and felt the boney fingers' grip loosen, he let her go and pulled his hand back.

"Frisk?"

…

"Frisk, you don't have to open the door, just, please listen-"

"How, did you know?"

…

"I felt it…the entire room felt, like it was holding its breath, like my own soul was waiting for, for permission to stay."

Frisk looked at her hand as she pulled it back.

As she did Frisk saw something in a dark corner, like a silhouette of something, barely there, 'misplaced darkness'.

She heard three things from the dark.

" _Tsk, Troublesome Comedian."_

A tendril of darkness wrapped around Frisk's hand, she could actually feel the darkness as it pulled on her, bringing her hand closer to the reset.

The terrified human girl tried to scream but the moment she parted her lips the darkness filled her lungs, she couldn't usher a single as she drowned from the flood of blackness.

It didn't take long before her body started to go limp, this, fluid shadow was draining all her strength out as it filled her body up.

The silhouette in the corner moved, coming closer to Frisk until it was right over her.

" _Time to get back to business, partner…"_

The darkness had completely filled her, allowing Frisk a moment to speak.

"N, No…"

" _Ha, like you have a choice."_

The form started to become more clear, she could make out, colors, shapes but her vision was fading.

" _Sans, help…"_

…

Hundreds of bones fired through from the wall separating Sans- and Papyrus's rooms embedding themselves deep in the opposite one.

"FRISK!"

The skeleton was standing with several Gaster blasters ready, he saw the figure and recognized the shape, the bright light from the now open room as well as from the large spheres of energy in the Gaster blasters forced away the figure and in turn, brought life back to Frisk's body.

"You, GET AWAY FROM HER!"

The blasters fired, sending bright beams of light through the figure, completely eradicating it in a magnificent display of a grossly overpowered attack.

Frisk could hear the figure scream out in pain while it was torn apart.

Sans headed straight to her, grabbing her in a tight hug.

"I'm, so sorry, I was, so stupid, you were innocent, all this time…"

She smiled and returned the passionate hug.

Sans didn't know how he knew, but as he sat in front of the door he could feel it, Frisk's nightmare had changed, she was happy.

" _Heh, sweet dreams kid."_

He pulled his legs in closer, hugging them and falling asleep like that himself.


	9. Chapter 9 Joys

Sans slept like a rock, despite how he was sitting, he only came to when he felt something behind him.

He moved his head back to see what it was but it was too late.

Everything happened in sequence, first he handful of cream slapped him in the face, sending him falling back, pulling a thin string that pulled a bucket of ice cold water, sending the contents splashing down on top of Sans.

…

He felt the human girl as she hopped on top of his chest area, she had a wide smile.

"Not bad kid, not bad at all…"

She laughed before getting off and offering him a hand, only to have him find out that there was a whoopee cushion there.

…

They both laughed loudly at that.

"…Ha-ha oh man, you really went all out didn't you kid?"

She only smiled at him as she helped the skeleton to his feet and offered him a towel.

He barely finished drying off when Frisk grabbed him in a tight hug.

"Heh, what's gotten into you kid?"

"Sans, can I ask something?"

"Sure?"

"No matter what happens, will you remember me?"

…

"Frisk, of course I'll remember you."

"Thank you Sans, don't ever forget, no matter what I need to do okay?"

Before he could ask what she meant Frisk let go and headed to the kitchen, leaving Sans wondering what was going on.

Breakfast was, surprisingly lively, Frisk had a constant tune in her head that quickly leaked out for Sans to hear, she blushed when he joined in at what could only be seen as a chorus section.

The skeleton was impressively in tune, his slightly deep and rugged voice supported Frisk's higher and softer tone, he did surprise her when out of the blue he took over from her, despite not knowing the original lyrics of the song that had come to life, he was able to keep to the original 'heart' with ease.

The pair continued for a long time, Sans had never known he could, do this, but he could see it in her eyes, she had heard him like this before, and was overjoyed to hear him sing again.

Frisk however was truly shocked that he was able to think up words on the fly, something that she had a suspicion of after something happened in one of her previous lives but he never confirmed nor denied it.

…

But as all great things, their singing came to an end, Frisk 'faded out', admiring the skeleton's musical ability while Sans maintained the chorus alone up until the last note, and stretched it out in what could have been mistaken for a well-practiced manner, not ruining the rhythm in any sense even as he slowly fell silent.

…

The skeleton breathed in deeply before looking over to his companion.

"I, had no idea I could do that."

She only smiled, his voice was shaky, like he was uncertain if it really happened, looking to his hand he chuckled as he brought it up to see.

His boney hand was rattling.

"ha-ha, what's wrong?"

She reached to his hand, covering it with hers, but when she saw the comparison in size, it, soured her mood.

"Well done Sans… you did great…"

He could see her smile fade and decided to act, but his brain took too long to catch up with his body's action.

He gently grabbed her face and brought his skull closer to her, realizing what he was going to do too late.

Frisk could feel it, the sensation of lips pressed against her own, she wouldn't see them, but, she felt them, something she learned before, a skeleton monster like Sans or Papyrus, could focus their spirit so they and others could, feel certain things, do, certain things, a simple kiss, was the least of that power.

But Sans was the only one she knew, in every timeline, that could focus his spirit to become a force of destruction…

The kiss only lasted for a moment before he pulled away.

"Uh, wow, that-"

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up…"

"Already done."

She giggled at that before pulling him outside.

He was about to ask what was going on but he saw her scoop up some snowball and make a ball of it, throwing it at him.

"Uh oh, careful-"

Another snowball, smacking him right in the face.

"Oh you're gonna pay for that."

He joined in on the fun, although with his boney fingers it proved to be somewhat a challenge for him to scoop up enough to make a ball.

Despite that however and the near constant onslaught from frisk, Sans was quick to return fire, forcing the human to take cover as a hailstorm of snowballs came her direction.

"You looking for a bad time?"

She was able to dodge enough snowballs to send another one to him, but the skeleton was too quick, sidestepping the chilling attack with ease.

This was bad, sans was too quick for her to take him on face to face, she would need to think of some other way or this would be it.

" _Come on Frisk, think, what could do it, you've known him for-"_

She got it, a naughty grin spread across her lips for a moment as she peaked her head out from the cover for a few seconds, pulling back in time to miss the snowball that would've connected right with her face.

She saw enough to know that, if she was going to do this, it was going to take time, and he would need to do exactly as she needed for it to work.

" _Okay Sans, let's fight."_

She sprinted out from behind her cover, barely keeping ahead of the barrage that came her way, as she ran she quickly bent down at an angle to scoop up some snow, returning fire.

He dodged, exactly as she needed him to.

The pair played this little game of cat and mouse for a while, until sans backed up, noticing too late what he backed up against as frisk bolted to him.

He was right against a tree and when he looked to frisk, he saw her jump up, planting her foot on the tree right above him and kicking off, landing in front of sans, in time to see all the snow that was on the tree, shower down on him.

The skeleton was buried under snow, Frisk waited for a while, watching him carefully.

Only noticing a movement where his hands were when it was too late.

She looked up and saw them, two very large Gaster blasters, that were buried in snow until a moment ago, they emptied out their slippery contents on Frisk just after Sans shook his head to get rid of the snow so he could see.

The skeleton laughed as he saw Frisk shaking about to get out of the snow, she looked at him than up to the blasters still hovering overhead then back to him, pouting in defeat.

Sans got out of his snow pile with her help and they both headed back to the house.

"Sans?"

Turning around the skeleton saw white.

"Get dunked on."

She laughed as she zipped passed the skeleton.

Wiping off the snow she slapped on his face Sans had to admit, it was fun to play around like this.

" _He-he, good kid…"_

The remainder of the day was rather, uneventful, Frisk seemed to be locked on trying to further her research but she did enjoy Sans's company more than before, she actually asked him if she could stay with him but made it clear that, she just, wanted his company, if he wanted to help, it would be up to her.

When the day did come to an end though Frisk made an odd request…

"Sans?"

"Yeah kid? What's up?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Is it alright, if I sleep here with you tonight?"

"Excuse me kid?"

…

"I, don't want to be alone, in the dark…"

That was an odd request, what would she be-

He remembered, the presence he felt before, and in the library as well.

"Sure kid."

"Thanks."

She headed to him and sat next to him on the couch.

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you, hold my hand?"

He found this request getting stranger and stranger by the minute but did as she asked, gently holding her hand in his own.

"Thanks, mmm…"

Her eyes slid closed, as they did she leaned right against him.

"...So warm…"

This little human girl fell asleep after those words slid past her lips.

Sans suppressed a chuckle, she was acting odd today, but, he enjoyed it.

The skeleton felt sleep slowly start to overtake him and he set his own head against hers.

As the pair slept peacefully, a rage grew somewhere between life and death.

A child like voice screamed out in anger, a feminine voice

" _THEY ARE RUINING EVERYTHING! ARGH! FINE! I will just give them a nudge to get this right, hmm…"_

The anger faded as a soft giggle came from the voice.

" _Perfect…"_

The laughter continued, unheard by all, save for one, a single being, lost and mostly forgotten.

This single being, replied, telling her that, she wouldn't win, Sans would kill Frisk if she ever succumbed, that this timeline was only one thing…

' _Interesting'_

" _We'll see."_


	10. Chapter 10 Unstable

Frisk looked around finding herself trapped in thick mist, no matter where she ran she couldn't escape, every direction she tried to run rewarded her, with Sans.

Or to be precise, his death...

She spotted a tiny sliver of clear sky and decided to run straight to it, covering her eyes from the horrors surrounding her.

She reached the open air, only to be forced back by a stream of darkness that rose up to meet her.

She tried again and again but the darkness kept her trapped in the mist, on the other side she could see Sans, holding his hand out for her.

"What's the matter, Frisk?"

Turning around she saw another Sans with his hoody hiding his face in darkness.

"This is where you belong."

She saw a bright red glow come from where his magical eye was, revealing a horror in itself.

It wasn't Sans, it was her, she was only wearing Sans's hoody.

"This is what you wanted, to be with everyone that ever mattered to you."

Shapes took form in the mist, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne…

Sans.

"So why are you trying to run?"

Her replica held out a razor sharp knife, it screamed out with the lives of those it slayed.

"You still haven't finished yet, there's still so much to do…"

Frisk tried to run through the dark again, to reach her Sans, but it only smacked her back into the mist, straight into the arms of her replica.

"I knew you'd come back to me."

The replica forced the knife into Frisk's hand, she couldn't let go when the killing tool was there.

"Now let's finish this, I'm sure Sans must be waiting for you."

She couldn't control herself, her body moved on its own accord, heading to sans, the darkness parting to allow her to walk straight to him.

Sans looked at her and smiled.

"S, Sans, R-"

"It's alright Frisk, I know. I'm sorry…"

Gaster Blasters formed next to Sans, aimed straight to her.

"This is what you wanted Kid, you should've just asked."

He snapped his boney fingers, signaling his attack, bathing her in the bright beams of light from the blasters.

As the pain wracked her soul Frisk caught something, through her blurred eyes she saw Sans he was looking away, cold tears sliding down his cheek bones.

"Frisk…"

Waking in fright the human girl felt a throbbing headache first, it lasted only a moment but it was intense, when it passed she became more aware of other things, a racing heart, a soft feeling against her cheek, a pair of very boney fingers between hers.

It took her a moment to realize that she was still against Sans, the skeleton was sleeping deeply.

She smiled and raised her free hand, placing it over his heart.

She could feel the magical rhythm, his energy beating like a heart.

…

" _What are you doing Frisk?"_

She realized again that, this was wrong, this Sans, he didn't ever hand her bouget's of flowers, he delivered salvo's of Gaster Blaster attacks, he offered her life ending bone barrages, not blush inducing flatteries, although to some girls that didn't know him they both would have had the same effect…

She got up and let go of his hand, it wasn't easy, but she couldn't deny reality.

This Sans will always remember that his brother died by her hands.

No amount of time spent bonding will ever change that, the only way that she could make it up to him, would probably, take her own life in the process.

While Sans slept peacefully Frisk headed back to her books.

There were still some things in them that she hadn't discovered yet.

Sitting down and going through her notes Frisk had started smacking ideas together to try and make progress, she made, some of it, but not a lot.

After what seemed like hours of making more notes and going through the books she stopped, sighing in frustration before opening up a different book, an empty book.

She was using it as a sort of, journal to keep track of her actions, of events that had occurred, of her state of mind, it was a kind of anchor and reminder for her as to what she had to do.

As she flipped through the pages Frisk could see the signs, she was degrading.

She was having a harder time separating her feelings for this Sans from her feelings for other Sans's.

For the first Sans, the one that mattered the most to her.

She wrote down a number, the amount of days it had been since he, spared her, she couldn't remember what day it was so she used that as a time stamp instead.

'it feels, like an eternity has passed since I came to this place, Sans is still friendly with me which I am ever thankful for, but it is getting harder and harder to keep my distance from him, so many lives we were together, but that is over, why won't I just let go?'

She stopped for a moment, feeling something nearby for a split second, she looked around to try and find the source of the presence, when she couldn't she returned to writing.

'This constant feeling of being watched isn't helping, if 'she' comes for me before I can finish my work, no, it's over, 'she' is gone, she has to be… than why can't I shake this feeling?

Sans, probably knows, I don't want to keep him the dark, but, he will try to stop me, I can't let that happen, he needs to get my power, no matter the cost…

I just, wish that I could kiss him, under the moonlight again. But this, childish body isn't right, being this young is fun, but, if I had a more adult body again, I could probably accomplish things faster, in the end, I will need to build, and this body, is so fragile.'

The presence returned, distracting her again for a moment.

'I'm scared, I want to go back, back to that night, I want to go dancing again with him, my Sans…'

She saw droplets splatter on the page she was righting on, pulling back she noticed it was her own tears, Frisk closed the book and put it back, she put down the writing equipment and hugged her legs.

" _No matter what kid, no matter when or where, know this, and never forget it, after what you did, I will ALWAYS be there for you, NOTHING will get in the way of that."_

She smiled at that, something he told her shortly after they left the underground.

But it was a lie…

"Something did get in the way Sans, I did…"

She was about to cry but felt a pair of boney fingers gently wrap around her shoulders.

"Hay Frisk, what's the matter?"

He was concerned, not fake, but genuine concern, the difference in his voice, it gave it away.

But she couldn't tell him, instead Frisk just brushed away her tears, telling him it was, nothing…

"Kid-"

"Sans, please, don't pry, it, hurts when you ask about-"

"Don't try and bottle everything up okay? I don't know why but you wouldn't have reset without good reason, if you just want to talk about it than I'm here for you okay Frisk? Remember that…"

He squeezed her shoulder gently before backing out.

She smiled, at least some part of the old him stayed no matter how many times she reset…

Frisk noticed something rather, annoying and bothersome when she entered the kitchen, their supplies were running all time low.

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"We need some more food, and spices…"

"Ha, alright, come on, I'm sure Grillby won't mind too much."

She didn't like that idea but desperate times and what not.

Luckily Grillby's was the same as when they left it, completely deserted and wreaking of dread.

Just standing at the door, felt wrong.

"Come on kid, let's grab what we need so we can get going…"

Luckily, they didn't need to stay around for too long, they grabbed only what they needed from the back area.

"Let's, not do that again…"

"No complaints here ki-"

Sans locked his eyes on something in her hands, something that, didn't belong there, it took Frisk a moment to realize what it was.

A razor sharp knife, she was gripping it, naturally, like she was born to hold it in her hand.

What truly bothered her, was the fact that, she couldn't remember ever coming near the knives in Grillby's

Sans slowly reached to the knife, and she reacted, pulling it back and flipping it's position so the blade pointed to him, she took a solid stance against him, ready to defend and kill him.

Only after the fact did she realize her own body's reaction, she had to force open her hand that gripped the knife, dropping it down into the snow.

She looked back to him in shock and she could see in his eyes that he was, confused.

"Frisk?"

"I, I'm sorry, I-"

He simply crouched down, his eyes locked on hers as he reached for the knife, throwing it to a side, away from her.

"What, happened?"

"I don't know."

She was telling the truth, that knife didn't belong in her hand, why, why was it there?

Frisk started to cave, her emotions running rampant as her mind collapsed in on itself… eroded with the simple thought.

" _I THREATENED HIM AGAIN!"_

She waited for it, a Gaster Blaster Salvo, a Bone Barrage, him to use his power and grab her soul, flinging her around like a ragdoll.

…

But none came…

…

Instead Sans stepped closer to her and gently placed his hand on her head while he examined their surroundings.

She could feel it, he was looking for something.

"I know you're out there, you can hide all you want, but try and mess with this kid, I dare you…"

"Sans?"

"It wasn't you who held that knife was it?"

She couldn't answer, it was her hand that held it, hers, no one else's, but she never grabbed it.

" _It, it's happening, I must fight, I need to hold it off, till I'm done!"_

Frisk raised a shaky finger, pointing to a patch of darkness, she felt the presence strongest there, like the dark itself was alive and watching her.

Sans chuckled and summoned up a Gaster Blaster, firing to the spot she pointed.

The presence vanished, Sans felt relieved but Frisk, she knew it would be back.

There was no escaping it.

No escaping a shadow.

" _No escaping your sins… partner…"_


	11. Chapter 11 Weakness

Frisk couldn't sleep, even while she was with Sans she remained wide awake.

Looking at her hand, she felt, afraid, it became too much, she needed to write, to focus her thoughts, the silence was worse than any kind of ear bleeding noise for her.

"Sans? You awake?"

"Mmm…"

He wasn't, of course he wasn't, why would he be, it was in the middle of the night in the underground.

Frisk left him and headed to her journal, bringing it back with her to the sleeping skeleton, as much as she hated this silence she didn't want to be left alone, she took up a stance against Sans with a knife she didn't know was in her hand…

What else would she do if left alone…?

Writing down the number of days, Frisk logged the events, what she did, how she felt, and stopping on occasion, feeling that, presence, here.

But something happened… something that she wished hadn't, a nightmare brought to life.

The door was broken down as a few monsters came rushing it, looters, they were armed with knives, swords spears…

They noticed Frisk, but not for what she was. A pair of them rushed to her, while another pair rushed to Sans, waking the skeleton.

"Uh, kid, what-"

He stopped, noticing the cold metallic blade right in front of his skull, and the monsters that were starting to look their stuff.

"Look pal-"

"Shut, Shut up! Try and stop us, than, than I'll, I'll kill you!"

That did not sit well with Frisk or Sans, but mostly Frisk, he could see her hands twitch when they said that.

"Alright, easy, we won't get in your way, just, please don't hurt her."

She was surprised and he could see it, but Frisk noticed a very small nod in her direction, she returned the nod and looked away.

The looters carried on for several seconds before one of them, a reptile type monster headed straight to Sans with a particularly annoyed mood.

"WHERE IS THE GOODS!?"

"Goods? We haven't got anything el-"

"Don't lie to me!"

Sans said nothing but that was the wrong thing to do.

The monster pulled out a custom made knife, slightly curved with several jagged hooks on one side, it could easily cut into anything, but pulling it out was going to cause serious damage.

"Look I'm not lying."

The monster stepped away from Sans and headed to Frisk, the monsters holding her down changed their grip on her, making it easier for Sans to see her and for the monster holding the strange knife to slash her open.

He raised his knife, telling sans that he had one last chance.

"WE DON'T HAVE ANY-"

Not the reply he was looking for…

The monster brought the knife down on Frisk, intent on killing her…

Stopping when Frisk smiled and laughed loudly…

She broke loose from the hold with ease, slamming the pair into each other as she backed off, afterwards she engaged the monster with the knife, slamming her open palm flat against the monster's stomach.

Despite her size she applied more than enough force on impact, the monster started to fall onto its hands and knees, she kicked the knife out of its hand, sending it up into the air before delivering a punch against the monster's cheek, sending it to a side only to have her deliver an uppercut that appeared to form straight from the floor itself, it seemed like the force from her own attack carried Frisk up, alphys would have probably confused it with a move named Shoryuken from a video game.

As she started to drop down Frisk grabbed hold of the knife, spinning it in her hands to have the blade pointing down, descending onto the monster, she slipped the cold steel through the heavy scales on the monster's head…

It faded to dust after that.

She didn't stop, instead, Frisk carried on, killing the two that grabbed hold of her, only stopping when she was threatened.

"Tsk, you think that comedian is my friend?"

Of all the beings in the room, Sans was the most shocked at that question, he was unsurprised at how easily and efficiently she disposed of the ones holding him down, that question was consuming him.

"Ha, well, I find his presence more tolerable than yours…"

She bolted to the others, slipping past them like she was part of the wind, sending slain monster dust in all directions without taking as much as a scratch.

This little human girl easily dodged their knife strikes, sidestepped the lunges from their spears, even bent down all the way to allow their sword swipes to slip right across her face, placing her hands behind her and flipping back up to her feet, in one fluid motion.

She was a nightmare, masterful acrobatic prowess, excessive parkour talent and pin point hand eye coordination, the looters didn't last long against her as she taunted them, laughed at their failure, and in the end, cut them down, like they were nothing, like they were merely, standing still.

"F, Frisk?"

She looked over to him, he could see an expression on her, one that unnerved him, she was annoyed.

But a smile quickly returned to her face as she looked at him.

"Comedian…"

"Frisk what-"

He couldn't say anything further, Frisk bolted forward, taking advantage of his moment of weakness, delivering a very well placed blow to his jaw with her knee.

He fell back and was about to get back up but Frisk was first, she was right over him, holding the knife over him.

"Hold still, comedian."

He didn't dare move, it would take one light thrust through one of his eye sockets to end him, but she didn't kill him, instead, she did worse.

Frisk held his skull down with her open hand while she cut into his forehead, marking him,

He couldn't do anything but feel the pain of her cutting into his skull, he tried to fight back but she delivered a single kick to the side of his jaw, enough to disorient him but not kill him.

…

"There we go comedian, enjoy."

She kissed the marking she made on his forehead before delivering a blow strong enough to knock him out.

"I'm still not strong enough comedian, be glad."

She giggled before holding his hand, the hand that delivered so much pain to her, she gently placed it down before ramming the knife through the bone, lodging it into the floor, his hand was pinned into the wood and it wasn't going to come loose.

She only giggled before gripping her head in pain.

It lasted for only a moment before passing, leaving Frisk gasping for air.

"Sans?"

She looked up, seeing the skeleton in such condition.

"SANS!"

She panicked and tried to wake him but knew, it was pointless, she had done this.

She looked around, seeing monster dust lying everywhere, even on her own hands,

She could only get one clear thought out.

" _RUN!"_

And run she did, bolting straight for the door, stopping when she saw the massive blizzard outside, she turned around and grabbed one of the heavy coats lying in the dust, she didn't even bother to shake it off as she ran out and put it on over her torn up sweater.

Sans woke up, days after the incident.

The skeleton felt a throbbing pain in his skull and instinctively tried to bring his hand to his skull but he felt a more intense pain from his hand.

Turning to see what it was, Sans was surprised, to say the least when he saw the knife holding his hand pinned.

"What? Ugh, what hap-"

He remembered.

Frisk, went mad.

He screamed in anger, flinging curses out in all directions, pointed straight towards him and his stupidity.

The skeleton tried to free his hand but it didn't budge.

Trying to ignore the pain Sans focused, releasing his magical eye and summoning up a Gaster Blaster he fired straight down, obliterating the knife and doing serious harm to his hand.

After the blaster faded away Sans got to his feet, his hand hurt badly but, he needed to look around, make sure she wasn't there.

On his look around he saw her journal, maybe, maybe it had some answers.

He opened it, and flipped through the pages.

As he read through everything he became more and more confused, it simply didn't make sense.

Who was 'She?'

And why did 'She' appear everywhere?

He closed the book, more intent on finding her now than ever before, only to stop when he saw what she did to him in a mirror.

He raised his wounded hand up to feel the mark, it was definitely there.

'Sans + Frisk'

There was a heart around the mark.

The pain in his hand, the memory of her slaughter, the 'gift' she gave him, all of it, sealed his decision as his magical eye returned, burning brighter than ever, searing the inside of his eye socket from the energy and heat arcing off inside the socket.

"I am going to KILL that BRAT!"

Several Gaster Blasters formed, their shape unlike anything he had ever summoned up before.

A pressure built inside Sans, his crushing rage growing ever stronger at the thought of Frisk until, the walls keeping it in check, caved.

For a split second a dark purple ring formed in Sans's other eye socket, like a sign that, everything that would ever have made him hesitate, any past feelings he ever had for her, whatever hope he had for her to change, everything that kept him from crushing her soul in the first place.

It all gave way, ending Sans and giving birth to a skeleton out for vengeance, no concept of pity, no idea of mercy, a living, breathing force of death, locked solely on Frisk.

"Run Kid, cause when I find you, I'm sending you to hell."

The blasters fired, obliterating everything, leaving nothing more than a smoking crater where the house once stood.

Sans stood on top of one of the Blasters, he allowed himself one last look at the crater where his house once stood.

The purple ring formed again for a split second… a sign that all his attachments, his feelings for Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, everyone, they were severed.

Laughter filled the space between life and death, it had worked out better than ever.

" _She was so weak, and he is so angry, ah this feels amazing wouldn't you agree?"_

No response came.

" _Ha-ha come now, where is that prideful praise of Sans hmm?"_

…

" _It doesn't matter, he won't find her, until it's too late."_

The laughter returned.


	12. Chapter 12 Safety

Alphys, Former royal scientist, current leader of the refugees that had been able to escape the genocidal rampage of the human that fell into their lands, in the end however, Alphys, was merely a scared, lonely monster.

A nearby alarm woke her from a particularly unforgiving nightmare, she was glad to be awake again, away from the terrors that wait for her in her slumber.

As she got up she rubbed her eyes and yawned before reaching for her glasses.

Walking out of her room she couldn't get two steps before a pair of monsters needed to talk with her.

Luckily it wasn't to waste her time, they were bringing problems to her attention, ones that were both of great concern and little importance but still good to know.

One of the problems that they brought to light however became her main concern.

One of the monsters, was stealing.

She hated this, but, it was bound to happen, their supplies were limited as it is, and despite all the progress they made, they could only refresh their stocks, not make more for everyone.

She headed to the thief that was caught, only to find it was, a little monster girl.

Grillby and two amalgamates were standing over her, the living flame was gripping a rather sharp and well-tempered sword, it seemed like his hold was limp, weak, but it was far from it.

Alphys cleared her throat, alerting him and the amalgamates of her presence, they turned to face her and backed off.

When she saw the amalgamates she had mixed feelings, failed experiments on her end, she tried to infuse a substance from human souls called DETERMINATION into the near dead bodies of monsters it worked for a moment, before their bodies started to change, absorbing more matter due to the substance, they became fusions of more than one monster, their bodies never fully solidified, she dreaded telling their families, but had no choice to reveal the truth when everyone was forced down into her true labs with her, the other monsters were disgusted with her at first, but, as time passed, the potential of the amalgamates could be seen, and they even retained the memories of the monsters from which they were formed.

But returning to the matter at hand, she looked over the little girl, she was crying.

"What did she steal?"

"Some rations from the storeroom, I've already returned them."

Grillby's voice was, smooth, the well-practiced tone of voice more accustomed with a butler than a bar owner, even his attire fitted that role better than what his occupation was before.

Alphys sighed before asking why she stole it, the girl replied, telling her that, she had no choice, the other bullies were always taking hers, she hadn't eaten in days.

She was still in the process of turning to look at Grillby when he turned around walked away, despite his somewhat peaceful appearance, he was the most serious threat to anyone causing trouble, he was going to find out if this was true and if it was, he was going to… take care of it…

She smiled a little before turning her attention back to the girl.

"Come on, you can have my rations for today."

She looked up at Alphys, unsure of what she had just heard.

"W, What?"

The girl's reaction was cute and brought a smile to Alphys's face.

"Come on."

The girl followed Alphys, not being stopped by the amalgamates at all, she kept close to the former royal scientist.

As they passed by the main living section, a rather large area of the labs that had to be, forcibly, extended, the pair could see Grillby and two other amalgamates with some young monster children.

Grillby said nothing, nor did the amalgamates, but, somehow, they got the message through without ushering a single noise, one of the children made the mistake of attacking him, calling him a crazy fool that's gone made, the fire merely slapped the kid away with a backhand.

"They won't be bothering you again."

The girl noticed that she had stopped to watch, she smiled when Alphys walked back to her.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, you still need to eat something."

She smiled and quickly returned to Alphys's side, they headed straight to the storeroom.

In front of the door there stood a pair of monsters, they tried to look menacing, with their scrawny arms and wooden swords.

…

Alphys and the girl both started to laugh wildly at the pair, despite that, the, guards, kept their composure, and merely looked at them.

Eventually however the laughter died down and Alphys told them to keep up their good work.

She opened the store room and walked in, a chilling freezer that made the reptile feel sleepy, she looked through the packs and found hers, taking it and leaving, grateful to be out of the room.

"Enjoy."

Despite what Alphys said before she was still shocked when she offered her meal for the entire day to her.

"You, don't want?"

"No, it's alright, you can take it."

The girl grabbed Alphys in a hug before she took the meal and went off in her own direction.

The former royal scientist had to admit, that she had changed, a lot since she had to take charge of the refugees, she wasn't nearly as shy or afraid of people's opinions about her.

Her moment of thought however was broken quickly when one of the monsters she assigned to maintain the water supply called her name.

She looked at him in confusion for a moment as her mind raced to return to reality, when it did she asked him what he wanted.

"Uh, well, I had a thought last night and, I wanted to run it by you, but you were-"

She just looked at him, silencing the monster quickly.

"…right, well, uh, I may have found a way to improve our water filters, could you look at this?"

He handed her a paper with a rather, basic schematic, luckily Alphys was able to figure out what he was trying to do, unfortunately though she also saw the major flaw.

"This, could work, but we'll need to shut down the water filter for a week, at least, we can't do that…"

He saw what she meant when she explained it, and she was right.

The water that everyone in the underground drank was extracted from an underground lake, but it was, contaminated, with something, they don't know exactly what it is, but, if they drank the water from the lake directly, they'd die within a year, there was a massive facility in the capital built solely to purify the water for everyone.

But the facility was shut down when the evacuation started, a hope that the human would drink the contaminated water and die, luckily Alphys had several parts that she needed to create a much smaller filtering system, it took some time for them to reach the lake directly and set up a stable pumping line and that used up nearly all of the materials that could have been used to expand the 'true lab' further out.

They simply, couldn't risk turning the pump or the filters off, it was a miracle to get them working in the first place, one that she doubted would repeat itself.

…

But that didn't solve the bigger problem, the filter wasn't cleaning enough water in time, simply put, they could keep living like this for three or four years before dying of dehydration…

Two solutions were clear but they were ones that Alphys refused to accept, the first was to, force some of the monsters to leave, it would solve a lot of their problems, but the ones that they banish wouldn't survive, and the other was to have someone head to the capital and try to restore functionality to the purification facility.

…

Both of those solutions brought forth danger without comparison.

The human would be waiting…

At best it would be a quick death, at worst, she would be lead right back to all the refugees.

She couldn't let that happen, Undyne gave her life to make sure everyone had enough time, it would be disgraceful to let any of the refugees come near the danger of that human.

Alphys remembered it, she saw the fight on her monitor, one of her hundreds of hidden camera's streamed the entire fight between Undyne and the human, she thought that the human had lost when Undyne transformed, when she was 'filled with determination' but in the end, all that the heroine was able to do, was annoy the human.

The former royal scientist only noticed that she was biting her lip when she tasted her own blood.

No matter how much she changes, some things, will never able to change.


	13. Chapter 13 Change

Sitting down and closing her eye, Alphys allowed herself a moment to relax, the had been trying to cook up a plan to solve their water problem again, an attempt that she lost count of going back to, but her efforts were, as before, fruitless and quickly replaced by other work that had taken more importance.

She was annoyed and somewhat concerned when she could hear how a nearby fan slowed to a standstill, she was unsurprised when she saw that the lights were out as well, bathing them all in darkness.

The blackness persisted for several seconds before the lights started to flicker back to life again along with all other forms of machinery.

…

She frowned in annoyance, another problem that has been arising as of late, the lab's generators weren't doing so well and no matter how long she searched for one, she couldn't find a problem.

She sighed and returned to her thoughts… only noticing something, odd about the sounds the fans were making after several seconds.

The sounds were, wrong, but, not in a bad kind of wrong, but, something wasn't right…

The former royal scientist got to her feet and headed to a nearby one to see what the problem was.

The fans, were spinning too fast.

When she realized this the lights shone a little brighter as well.

" _What, is happening?"_

Grillby was glad when he spotted alphys, he was standing in front of the large and strange machine that, she never truly explained, when it suddenly lit up, along with several other machines that had been purposely switched off.

After that knowledge was brought to her attention, Grillby could clearly see her start to worry.

He followed her, intent on helping however he can.

They reached the generator room and she immediately hit the emergency shut down.

They could hear all of the generators start to power down, something that she dreaded hearing…

…

But the power, didn't go out.

Alphys waited, maybe the generators pushed out enough energy to stay in use for a little while longer…

It was pointless, the power wasn't going out, and it was clear that it wasn't going to be going out.

"What, is happening?"

He didn't reply, better to stay quiet than say something without use.

The royal scientist sprinted to a nearby console, leaving her companion behind her as she did.

"It, It can't be."

When she reached the console she almost slide right past it, luckily Grillby was quick to follow, when he did start chasing her…

He grabbed her and gently broke her momentum before she slid past the console.

"Th, Thanks."

She only received a nod in reply but it didn't matter, she immediately started to use the console, typing at a lightning speed on the keys, barely even looking at the data displayed before already viewing a new screen.

The speed of her fingers made Grillby feel slow in comparison, and he was pretty quick.

It took little more than a minute for her to not only confirm her theory but triple check the data and the console's connection with the sensors.

Yet in the end, it was true.

Someone, or something, had switched on the capital's power grid and redirected a rather large portion of the power being generated, straight to them.

…

"Grillby, am I reading this right?"

The flame looked at the screen but, to him it made little sense, yet he could clearly see that something was turned on.

She asked him if a certain number was showing in the bottom right corner, and it was.

The other monsters noticed the actions of their leader and the desperation she had, it had them all worried, eventually she noticed their concern.

Turning to face them Alphys told them directly.

"Someone, turned on the capital's power and, is sending most of it here."

Most of them were glad but, some of them realized that this, could mean trouble for them.

Grillby offered to take the most capable with him to go and investigate, if this was the human's doing, than they needed to know.

…

"No, if this is, that human, than it could be trying to lure us out, keep someone near the generator room in case the power goes off again and we need to switch them back on."

He accepted her reasoning and pointed to one of the monsters to get its attention before motioning for it to come to him.

She shook her head and smiled, he knew them all almost like the back of his hand, if it came to it, he would be able to put up the biggest fight against that human that it would ever have faced, exploiting strongpoints and canceling out the their weaknesses, she was sure that if it came to it, he would probably be able to keep them all rotating, allowing them to recover and return to the fight, in essence, winning against that human, through sheer attrition.

But that, was just a random idea that she had.

While the monsters seemed happy and those that were concerned calmed down Alphys had another idea invade her mind.

" _What, if it's not that human, but, what else is it? Damn it if only I had access to my surveillance systems than I could see…"_

She didn't like this, the only way to access the hidden cameras all over the underground was through the computer with the obscenely large screen in the upper labs.

Barely five minutes passed before they all heard an unnatural noise like followed by several dozen others.

No one knew what it was, until they heard the very distinct rushing sound, of water

Alphys panicked and used the console to immediately cut off their reservoir…

Only to see that, it wasn't being affected at all, in fact, the main water pipes, connected straight to the capital's purification facility's sealed and cleansed reservoir, they were the ones being filled, this, didn't make sense, first the power, and now the water? So soon after each other as well?

They needed to test the water, this couldn't be alright, it had to be a trick, somehow the human must've been turning on the power and the water, somehow the human must've poisoned the water supply…

But how? The water that was cleansed at the facility automatically stored in a sealed container that even Sans's Gaster Blaster could do little more than cover in scorch marks and more importantly each container was equipped with hundreds of detectors, if there was as much as a milligram of anything aside from pure H2O, the container detached from the main water supply and the contents were incinerated.

…

Despite knowing that it was going to be a pure nightmare for the human to do anything to the water aside from glare at it menacingly she asked Grillby to test it.

Lucky for them, the flames like Grillby can prove invaluable, he headed to a nearby tap and let the water run, after taking off one of his gloves, the raw increase in heat slapped everyone in the face like a steel pan, followed by the humidity in the air when he forced his now exposed hand into the water.

A very unique trait that few knew of, when exposed to liquids, a flame could tell EXACTLY what was inside, even if they never heard of it before they could still describe the substance in extreme detail.

…

He simply closed the tap and put his glove back on, since he said nothing, it only proved that it was purely clean water.

Before she could even question it however they all heard a very loud bang from the elevator shaft, everyone held their breath up.

No need for a request, Grillby got to work, getting everyone into position to fight for their lives, luckily one of the monsters nearby passed him his sword so he wouldn't have to go looking for it as he stood at the head of the refugee monsters, facing to the elevator with four others that he knew could hold out almost as long as he could.

Another loud bang followed by metal slamming on metal constantly in the shaft, for the first time they all saw his grip tighten, no casually barely holding over the shoulder anymore, but a hard hold with the blade in front of him.

…

The waiting was the worst, it seemed to drag on forever, crushing tension that could drive any mind mad in seconds, anticipation that would have had little girls tear every single hair out of their head, but most of all, the fear, so thick, so rich, death itself would need to slice through it to claim them.

At last their relief came, the doors were blown open and from the ruined entrance or exit stepped out, the last thing Alphys ever expected to see.


	14. Chapter 14 Unreachable

No one dared to move, not even Grillby and he knew this person the best, yet, it was impossible, how could have survived? It had to be an illusion of some kind, some kind of trick by the human to make them lower their guard before it struck them all down.

"Is this really a proper greeting?"

Even the voice matched perfectly.

But they still needed to be sure.

As alphys and the others worked on confirming the identity of who came through the elevator, Frisk, was having a hard time of her own.

It had been so long since the day she ran that, she had no way of knowing if it had been weeks, or years even, the passage of time had become little more than a blurry maze to her, but she may have done it.

She knew of the book, the one that Sans tried to hide, in previous timelines he showed it to her to help her with a project, even teaching her the basics of decoding the work so she could carry on when he was away.

It took her much, much longer than she ever wanted it to, to find the book, and when she did, she was surprised at its safe haven.

Not in the library, nor was it inside San's hidden lab, if it was hidden in the capital it would have been too easy to find, and if he kept it with him always it would be a burden.

The last place that she wished it would be however, it was.

The ruins, in the cold, lonely house, amongst the lost Toriel's books, it waited gently, patiently…

It disturbed Frisk…

There was one thing that she did learn from the book that always stayed with her.

This book, the collected works of Sans, Alphys and the brilliant genius Wing Dings Gaster, it held magnificent information, as well as terrifying knowledge, the type that could easily be used to eradicate both the underground and the surface world thousand times over.

She was scared, if she, lost it again, than the effects would be, catastrophic.

But she needed the information from their experiments in souls, she needed Gaster's unique knowledge into powers.

When she reached for the book however, she heard an alarm go off.

He booby trapped the book, Sans, expected her to come for it eventually.

No time, no idea what type of trap it was she grabbed the book and jumped back, falling onto the ground with her back facing to where the book was before, covering it with her body as best she could.

…

Nothing…

She was about to relax but her mind had already beaten her to the next real threat.

If it wasn't a physical trap, meant to destroy her or the book, than it must've been set up to contact Sans…

Her suspicions where confirmed when a rather loud bang could be heard from below, it must've been the doors, they were open when she arrived so she closed them, but, he must've blown them open, by force.

She sprinted straight for the nearest hiding spot holding the book tightly as she dove into the fireplace and started climb the chimney.

She barely got high enough up to blend into the dark of the chimney with the book resting gently on her chest before she heard him.

"Come out Brat, I know you're here."

She held her breath, fear was gripping her tightly.

She could hear him, throwing furniture around like it was trash as he hunted for her, breaking a pretty large amount of said furniture before finally moving on to another room.

She considered moving down again, to try and make a break for it, but just as her heart almost stopped in fright at his angered call, so too did that idea end.

" _Please, don't find me Sans, please, please…"_

Silently pleading for him to leave she could feel the moist in her eyes start to build up, forcing her to fight against her own body, if as much as a single tear fell from her now, it would be little different from screaming at the top of her lungs.

She resisted, keeping it in as much as she could but, a certain voice, in the very back of her head, scratched at her mind, little by little, slipping through a message for her.

" _Staying here is dangerous… fighting him, is the only real way to get out of here."_

She refused, denying the voice that chance, she had finally gotten the book that she wished she never needed but do, she could at last find out the missing piece, the small secret that eluded her, the chance she needed to transfer her powers over to someone or something else.

She wasn't going to fight him, if she did, she might lose herself again, and if that happened, he wouldn't survive, the one person she trusts to redo it, to go back and stop her before this all happened, she'd destroy him and in turn, destroy all hope of something better for them all.

She heard him go out through the door, further into the ruins, maybe Sans thought that she had gone out there to try and escape.

Now she allowed herself a sigh of relief.

"Howdy."

…

That voice.

It froze her to the core.

Looking to her side she saw a golden flower, with a face, it was smiling at her.

"F-"

It stopped her, placing a petal on her lips.

"Look, I don't like you much kid, but, I, I've had a lot of time to think, I was stupid to believe that I would be left alive when you were done, I know what you're trying to do."

She didn't reply.

"Don't think I'm helping you because I like you or anything, I just, really don't want to be in this timeline…"

She was shocked when he offered to distract Sans for her.

"Thank you, Asriel."

"… It's, Flowey…"

Even after she discovered the truth about the mysterious golden flower, it always preferred being called Flowey over its original name, it was kind of cute for Frisk.

"Wait here till I come back."

Just as he appeared the flower retracted into the wall, presumably burrowing back in and heading out through its roots.

She waited, breathing as quietly as she possibly could, eternity seemed to have hold of her inside that small and cramped chimney.

…

Silence…

Closing her eyes she allowed her mind to wonder while she waited.

" _You're not a very good dancer are you?"_

" _Gee what gave it away Frisk?"_

" _Well, you're wound up a little tightly."_

 _She had to suppress a giggle when they reached the dancefloor, Sans was, on edge, his motions were, solid, it was quite funny to look at._

 _Luckily the dance was short and they headed over to the bar for a drink._

" _She's right you know…"_

" _Wow grill thanks for having my backbone…"_

 _The flame laughed at his old friend before offering a menu of, premium drinks to both Frisk and Sans._

" _May I say you look rather well this evening Frisk."_

 _She smiled at the comment before reading through the drinks, she didn't even need to look to know what Sans was ordering._

" _The next up is a slow one if you two want to-"_

" _A slow one? In a club like this?"_

 _Frisk was shocked, since when did lively clubs play slow songs._

" _It's my club and I do what I want with it, most people are out recovering but, there are some couples that enjoy a nice slow dance in between the energetic music usually played."_

 _She smiled, of course, only grillby would do something like that and get away with it._

 _Almost on que they heard a smooth and relaxing melody, the two looked over the dance floor and saw that indeed there were a few couples out there, enjoy their slow dances._

" _well? What are you two love birds waiting for?"_

 _They looked back at grillby, only to see him motion for them to go._

 _They both headed out there, nearly dragged away and thrown to the dance floor by Grillby himself._

 _Both of them were rather clumsy at first but quickly got the hang of it._

 _As they danced Grillby watched them and felt a tear of joy form, only to have it evaporate instantly._

 _This was a sight he of all monsters was waiting for the most._

" _So, how're they doing?"_

 _Looking over to his side he saw Undyne and the others, there were all there, in disguise._

" _See for yourself."_

 _The sight was one for them all to behold, and it made them all happy._

 _Frisk didn't notice them at all, she was lost in the moment, her body acted on its own as she followed him._

" _Sans?"_

" _Yeah?"_

" _Thank you"_

" _No kid, thank you."_

" _Still calling me kid?"_

" _He-he"_

" _Alright, duncle."_

 _She was curious as to where that came from but she could feel that it made Sans forcibly suppress his laughter._

" _Funny."_

" _I thought so."_

 _They danced for a while longer before the music changed, turning back into the hyped up tunes similar to those before._

 _This time, sans was a lot more relaxed and much better as they danced to the new rhythm._

The sound of Flowey's voice woke Frisk from her thoughts, something that, she wished hadn't happened.

But to live in a memory is to live die in a lie.

He told her that Sans was gone, lured back to the 'sweet spot' as he calls it.

She didn't even bother asking how flowey knew of the sweet spot, instead Frisk climbed down, she was overjoyed and at the same time, disappointed to see that Sans really was gone.

But it was for the best, he would never give her the time to think, let alone let her finish what she needed to.


	15. Chapter 15 Change Continues

It was hard to believe the monster that had returned to them, even for Alphys and Grillby, but in the end they couldn't deny it.

He immediately got to work, going to a room where he could work in peace.

The former royal scientist brought some of the weapon designs she had made to him, and he was able to improve upon them.

But in general, he was left, alone.

"How?"

…

She couldn't answer Grillby's question.

"I, don't know, its, not possible…"

"Did he say anything?"

…

Alphys looked at the Flame in disbelief.

"He said, Sans, called to him."

It made, no sense.

Safety, a place to that she could rest a moment, an area where she could stop and relax.

That was something that Frisk would have liked, but ever since she took the book with her, Sans was always nearby, she hadn't been able to ditch him yet.

Luckily she was able to slip into a nearby building without making any noise.

Frisk relaxed for a moment as she noticed a backpack nearby, it fit her current size and could easily hold the book.

She was grateful, with this she could maybe make better time when she was back outside.

Frisk carefully moved to a nearby window and cautiously peeked through the curtains.

She could see the silhouette from Sans heading away from the building she was in.

Sighing in relief Frisk quickly headed to a nearby tap and barely turned the tap, the water slipped out quietly as she had hoped, allowing her an icy refreshment.

Frisk quickly and quietly raided the house's rooms for any supplies she could use.

She was lucky, a decent sized book full of clean pages, some writing utensils, several bottles she could fill with water and, a single lunch box that she filled with food.

This, was a plentiful bounty for her, a break from the hunger she had to endure during some nights.

Right as she headed to the door and opened it she heard something.

Wind… howling winds.

She slipped a quick peak outside to see, there was a blizzard outside, and while she was busy scavenging, it had turned dark.

Frowning Frisk considered her options.

In the end, she knew there was only one REAL answer for her.

Sans heard a single noise in between the howling of the blizzard winds, a door, he turned to face where he heard it and walked forward.

The cold didn't bother him, it might have once, but not anymore.

When he reached the house he saw the door closed.

"Real smart kid, hiding from the blizzard in there, but now you've got nowhere to run to."

His magical eye never dimmed out, its bright blue light constantly burning since that moment she he had no need to first activate it, instead summoned the house destroying Gaster Blasters and fired on it, over and over, only stopping when there was little more than ash and snow.

Looking at the devastation with no feelings of dread, of remorse, of anything, but anger, she wasn't here.

…

Frisk heard the blasts and was glad to know where he was, this was her only chance to really escape from him again, the blizzard would cover her tracks from him, and she was quite a distance from the house.

She ran nonstop until she heard it, the fear of running face first right into him drove her but the little human girl allowed herself a moment to breath before sprinting away further.

Frisk tried, she knew that she needed to, if she hated him than she wouldn't be feeling so terrible to run from him, if she hated him, she wouldn't be distracted when she find a safe place to get to work but she couldn't.

He still mattered too much to her, despite everything that had happened.

She had to clamp her hands over her ears when she heard his quaking roar, it was like Sans's voice was carried by the underground itself.

"FRISK!"

It was, haunting…

Grillby knew one thing very clearly as he personally instructed the ones he deemed near his level of combat effectiveness, things were going to change.

Others were there as well, other monsters that were enduring training of their own, Alphys asked able bodied monsters to join in the training session to better their odds, even she tried to train, for a little while but her body simply wasn't ready for the intense exercise.

The needed to be ready, with his return, it only spelled unknown future to them all.

As everyone carried on she received a call on her cellphone.

"Yes?"

"There's someone here, he wants to come in."

She sighed, who would it be, it had to be a monster considering the fact that they called her instead of dying in agony.

"Who is he?"

She waited a moment, hearing the monster ask her question, but two things happened.

She heard the name of the monster and when she did, her heart skipped a beat in shock.

"S, send, him down."

The arm holding up the phone for her went limp and Grillby saw her as he delivered several knee jabs into the gullet of his sparring partner, that aloe would've been alright to some but, he forced the monster down each time into the attack.

He finished off the monster by grabbing its throat and, almost easily, threw the entire monster against the other, like a ragdoll.

"Alphys?"

The other monsters noticed her state now too thanks to Grillby speaking up.

Looking up she saw the concern of everyone, but she, and they, all looked over to the elevator shaft, they heard something slam down onto the platform, after all, the latest one to join their ranks, completely destroyed the elevator itself in his way down, it was, in the way as he said.

Luckily some monsters could survive being dropped from orbit.

Two figures were there, one sitting very annoyed on the shoulder of the other and quickly hopped off.

The one that had the other on his shoulder headed back up to join the other sentry waiting at the lab.

But this one, the one that remained.

He was of real interest, interest and shock.

Enough so that Grillby dropped the training sword he was using.

"Yikes, I remember teaching you to hold your sword better grills, what happened? You got old or something?"

Grillby picked up the sword and knew, he didn't need to see, he didn't need to hear, he felt it.

The figure bolted straight to him, holding a rather sharp sword, he was able to block it easily.

"Hello to you too Kain."

"Aw shucks you remembered little old me did you?"

Kain pulled back and hugged Grillby, it was odd to see a bone dry mummy monster hugging a flame.

The space between life and death, a familiar voice screamed in confusion.

" _What, the hell is happening!?"_


	16. Chapter 16 No Return

Kain, the mystery mummy monster that had been an achievement by W.D. Gaster himself, infusing a dying body, not with determination, but with regenerative abilities, than wrapped with matter filled with the same properties.

The result, which seemed impossible to reproduce, was a being constantly healing, few things could offer Kain more than a moment's worth of pain, he even had his arm removed, only for the wraps to take the form of the arm, and fully regenerate it inside.

The man was eternally grateful for the effort of the lost genius but he never had a chance to truly show proper thanks to Gaster.

Regardless, he needed to focus on the here and now, not on the past.

"So Grillby, how are you doing?"

The fire smiled, a facial feature that nearly no one could see, but Kain was a practiced watcher, he saw the very small differences in the flame.

"Alright, and you old friend? Where have you been all this time?"

"I've been well, I, needed some time alone after the accident."

…

Grillby and Alphys looked at each other, having a silent conversation, one that was interrupted by Kain.

"…I know someone claiming to be like him is here…"

"He's not claiming, he is him."

"I'll be the judge of that, where is he?"

Alphys was the one to escort Kain to the room, when the doors opened they saw him, tinkering with a device that, neither of them had seen, yet to the former royal scientist, it felt, familiar…

"I'd like to be alone with him."

He stopped tinkering and looked over to the pair, seeing Kain and nodding gently before returning to his tinkering.

Alphys had no way to protest, she merely backed off and closed the door, bumping into Grillby.

"Oh, forgive me."

Both of them stayed and listened in as best they could but something was, muffling the sound, all that they could make out was something about Sans, anger, a failsafe and, some kind of, dark child.

The conversation inside got louder, more heated, and they expected things to start being flung around at random, yet, instead it died down.

Kain shortly after left the room, smiling when he saw the pair.

"Only he, could be so creative, we need to get ready, something's happened that we need to solve, as quickly as we can."

They both saw Kain close his eyes and hold his index and middle finger extended upwards in front of him.

The wrappings shifted, lifting off and rewrapping themselves around him, much, much tighter, yet it seemed like they were, looser, more comfortable.

When it was done he smiled.

"I'll go start the hunt, Grills can you come with?"

He looked at alphys for a moment, they could use his help, but of both Kain and ,he, needed Grillby's help than they were of more importance.

"Yes."

"Fantastic, this should make it much easier than."

"What are we hunting?"

…

Kain's sight became razor like, penetrating through the flame like it was nothing.

"Short, ticked off skeletons…"

…

"Sans?"

Grillby couldn't believe it, why the hell would they need to go and hunt, Sans of all people?

"It's good to see your mind is still quick, yeah, we need to find Sans and stop him."

"Stop Sans?"

They both looked at Alphys, Grillby so he had something else to look at, and Kain to tell her directly.

"Yeah, stop him from making the biggest mistake in all existence."

The air itself would've dropped like a boulder if the sudden shock and tension had weight to it.

"What? What mistake?"

"The only one that matters, the kind of mistake that will completely obliterate our chances."

She hated this, what was he talking about, chances? Mistakes? What was sans doing? How was he even still alive with the human out there?

She was about to ask what he was talking about when the door slid open.

He stepped out, the air around him saturated with, calm and collected peace.

"It is done, we must hurry before it is too late."

Kain nodded before bolting straight to the elevator, a gift that he abused easily, he could tear his muscles while achieving feats that weren't open to him before, he reached the elevator shaft in a fraction of a second and easily sprinted up the walls.

Grillby followed, his Flame anatomy allowed him a form of propulsion upwards, catching Kain as he exited the shaft at the top.

Alphys, couldn't do anything, and she despised it, this feeling of being so powerless, it was like the day with Undyne, where all she could do was watch through a screen.

"Do not worry, we shall return safely and Sans shall be among us when we do."

A cold hand gently patted her head before he headed to the shaft, accessing his mysterious new power to rise up with ease and join the others.

"Just, be safe…"

Kain's superior senses barely heard her, it brought a quick smile to his face.

"Now, where do we start?"

Both mummy and flame looked at their third companion, waiting.

"The last I felt, he was in a town covered in snow, I believe its cal-"

"Snowdin."

He was surprised at their unified answer, like they were one mind with their reply.

"Very well, lead the way."

Kain sprinted off, out of the labs and on a collision course with the town, leaving behind a sizable dust cloud in his wake.

"My, he truly does not waste much time does he?"

Grillby shook his head, this was how Kain was, how he remembered him to be.

"We shouldn't waste time either."

"I agree, let us make haste."

They followed as quickly as they could, staying close on Kain's heels.

"There's nowhere to run now brat!"

Frisk's fear had come to life, the blizzard had grown too intense and she was forced to take cover in a house, the following day provided no cover for her as she ran and he was easily able to follow her.

Frisk was trapped, he forced her to a cliff side during the chaos of his attacks.

"Sans, please, stop."

"Stop? STOP!?"

"Please."

He laughed at her pleading, no way he was going to stop.

"You slaughter with reckless abandon, not once did you stop for the people you were killing, no, I won't let you go, I'll give you exactly what you gave my brother!"

Flowey popped up next to Sans, begged him to stop, to let her go.

"Shut up weed!"

He fired on Flowey with an array of Gaster Blasters, turning the living plant into little more than ashes.

Frisk opened her eyes wide and her mouth fell open as she watched the nightmarish act occur in front of her.

"There's no one here to save you brat, it's just you and me, and I won't be letting you escape again, so, just go find your cozy little burning circle in hell!"

He fired at her, sending wave after wave of energy at her, accompanied by barrages of bone attacks and soul grabs, forcing her body in directions that would have been lethal.

But something happened.

She gave in.

She knew she couldn't win.

No alone.

She needed help.

She needed strength.

She needed speed.

She needed, the killing instinct to return.

She needed, her, to return.

"CHARA!"

…

" _You called, partner?"_

The giggles return, the smile, the eyes.

She had returned to frisk, this time she was welcome.


	17. Chapter 17 The Fight

The entire underground froze over with terror, its inhabitants feeling their very home turning icy from dread as a force of darkness returned in full strength.

Even Alphys couldn't deny it.

Horror had just come to their doorstep.

Yet there was only one monster in the entire underground, who didn't feel the cries of fear from the underground.

Sans himself.

He started at Frisk blankly, her entire posture changed when she screamed out that name.

Chara.

The human giggled as she looked to him, the color in her eyes shifted from the bright emerald green, to deep crimson as a smile formed.

"Hello again comedian, it has been a while, how do you like the mark I gave you?"

There was no denying that she was acting completely different, before she was scared, running, her stance was clumsy for exhaustion but now, it's like an entirely new frisk was standing in front of him.

"What's the matter comedian?"

No reply, he watched her as she dropped off the heavy coat she took from one of the monsters she killed.

"Are you really so surprised comedian?"

She slipped off the ruined sweater, allowing the cold to rush straight to her.

The sigh under revealed something that, made him hesitate.

The little girl war a simple black shirt but her body seemed to be, radiating streams of darkness, these streams hovered around her like smoke trails.

"It feels so good to be free of all that, I can finally breath again."

She stretched a little, the sound of popping bones could be heard for miles, carried by the winds rushing from them.

"Still not speaking?"

…

"Hah, alright comedian, I will stop wasting your time."

She grabbed at her side, a single, lonely knife that Frisk had taken from the house, in case she needed to defend herself.

As Chara sprinted to Sans Frisk spoke to her.

" _CHARA! KEEP HIM ALIVE!"_

"Ha-ha, even after all this you still wish to save him?"

The skeleton retaliated, he had no words to waste upon the girl, he would only usher his voice upon her when he stood over her beaten and broken form.

" _DON'T KILL HIM!"_

"Ha, you called to me, you knew what would happen Frisk, I will not let him survive!"

Sans noticed that she spoke to herself and backed off.

" _No, NO! YOU CAN'T KILL HIM!"_

"Can't kill him? Frisk, Frisk, Frisk, since when did you think you were ever in control? I will take his life, just like I took his miserable brother's."

She laughed as she said those words, nearly tripling Sans's rage.

She could see that she had gotten to him when his magical eye burned more intensely, the static charge from the eye firing off severely inside his eye socket as more of the bone surrounding the socket was scorched black.

"Oh? Didn't like to hear the truth?" asked Chara in a giggle as she easily sidestepped a bone barrage and ducked under a Gaster Blaster attack.

" _STOP! Just knock him out and get us out of here!"_

"You're really starting to become annoying Frisk, must I teach you your place just as I did back in the ruins?"

Frisk shivered and fell silent inside her own mind, the memories haunting her.

Chara, was a VERY persuasive person.

"I don't know what you're trying to do Brat, but I won't let you go."

She laughed at Sans, he wasn't going to intimidate Chara, not now, not ever.

"What will you do hmm? Bark at the dark? Blow holes into libraries?"

…

"Oh? How did I know? I was there, I was what you felt, you really did make an annoyance of yourself for me, but in the end, you proved invaluable for me."

She had reached him, close and upfront, there was no way he could summon up his blasters to defend himself, or use his bone attacks.

Sans however, did reach to her soul itself and threw it aside, forcing her body to follow, Chara flew back and noticed the wall of bone spikes waiting for her.

"Ha, this trick again?"

No response, but when she was supposed to slide into them, somehow she stopped.

They were both surprised at the sight before them.

The darkness flowing from her clamped into the ground and slowed her down.

"Ha, wow, I should really thank you Frisk, if you didn't let me in willingly, most of my power would be used to keep you docile, good girl…"

She bolted straight back to him, supported by the strange strands of black shadow that came from her.

Chara was faster, her hits were stronger, her swipes more precise, and her stabs almost dead on, she was keeping Sans on the offensive.

Luckily, Sans wasn't merely dodging her attacks anymore, he was actively using his powers to keep himself safe.

"So, this, is what you've been hiding brat? The power over time, and this power? Well, I'm impressed."

"Thank you."

Even if Chara was intent on killing him, that was no reason not to a well-mannered person, he has after all, proven that he deserves that, no other monster has ever given her as much troubles as he has.

Right as she was about to go straight for his skull Chara was forced back, she saw behind her a legion of Gaster Blasters inhabiting the air the entire ground was filled with millions of bone spikes.

She used her dark powers to slow herself down but only a bit before jumping back, onto the spikes, gentle landings, she ran backwards on the spikes themselves, slowing herself to a standstill on a single spike.

Sans was unsurprised to see her standing her one foot on the spike without it getting hurt, instead of allowing some kind of distraction to take him he snapped his fingers, ordering the blasters to fire down.

They did, targeting Chara directly, but no matter how much he tried, none of them could hit her as she dodged, sidestepped, and twirled out of the way.

Chara, was messing with him.

He summoned for blasters right in front of him and fired forward, one way or another she was going to die.

Yet in the end Chara, leaped out to him, completely untouched by the beams and with a rosy cheeked smile shining.

She was back to close quarters, face to face with Sans, this time she wasn't going to be leaving this distance.

When he tried to force her back she was ready, she spotted the hand and forced her knife through it, lodging it deeply as she jumped back a bit.

Sans grinded his teeth in frustration as he reached for the knife.

"Oh comedian?"

When he looked back up he saw a second knife, this one went straight into his other hand before she kicked him back, forcing him onto his back with her onto, holding both knives down to make sure he couldn't remove them.

"Now comedian, tell me, what do you think of what I gave you hmm?"

He said nothing, the fury he projected, spoke for him.

"Oh my, not very nice, well-"

Chara looked up, like she sensed something, her smile turned to a scowl.

"I'm sorry, but I need to do, I'll tell you this though Frisk, is screaming at me right now for what I did to you."

Giggling Chara slipped a quick kiss on Sans's cheek bone before knocking him out and sprinting away from where she was.

She didn't want, him, to interfere, not now that she finally has this body, and the fact that she could now use powers that she didn't have at her disposal before, proved invaluable, and definitely needed some attention.

Grillby and the others found Sans were shocked at his condition.

"Kain."

The mummy bolted off to find whoever did this to Sans, he, she, it, had to be nearby.

"Grillby, could you bring me those effects please?"

The fire saw the clothing in the distance and did as asked, despite the clothing's condition being, little more than tatter's, they could still be of some use.

The pained Skeleton didn't respond when they tried to wake him up, Sans was completely out for the count, when Kain returned from his hunt with no results they agreed to take him back to the labs, at least there, he could be properly treated.

They all noticed the scorching in his eye socket and surrounding it.

"It looks like something burned him." Stated Grillby, he recognized scorch marks but, he never saw anything like these marks before.

"It's worse than I feared, we need to hurry so I can restore his power."

Neither Kain nor Grillby understood what he meant by that but did as told anyway.


	18. Chapter 18 Care

Alphys was glad when she heard Sans and the others had returned, but when she saw the joker she was shocked.

"Alphys, I must hurry and restore his power while I still can, if he is to wake than it shall be far more difficult to do so."

She moved out of the way, Sans's hands were bandaged but nothing could properly cover the marks at his eye socket.

"What, happened?"

We don't know, we found him pinned to the ground and unconscious with these through his hands.

Kain handed over the knives, and Grillby confirmed what he said when Alphys looked at him.

"Was it, the human?"

"We don't know, I looked around for her, but if it was, she was long gone when we arrived, we have no idea where either of them are."

Both Alphys and Grillby noticed his choice in words.

"Them? There's more than one."

Kain looked away, he wasn't supposed to say that.

"Kain…"

"Look I can't talk about it, He ordered me not to."

That left them with more questions, even more when Kain stopped them from entering the room that Sans and the other one had entered, they heard massive static discharge, energy was being flung around wildly, it lasted for only a moment but still, it was there.

Kain was called inside to help, Alphys and the others caught a glimpse of sans on a table, the strange machine that had been constructed was attached to his skull.

The door closed behind Kain and they heard even more power being thrown around, this time it lasted for several minutes before starting to die out.

…

They all waited, holding their breath as they did until Kain came out slowly.

"Well?"

"Sans is, stable, it seems his powers went a bit crazy…"

Grillby didn't really understand but Alphys, she had a very good idea of what he was talking about.

"The burns…?"

…

"Yeah, he overcooked his eye a bit."

"I want to see him."

"That-"

Kain stopped, he couldn't keep her away, he was too drained himself to argue.

"Go in but, be careful and quiet."

She did, followed by Grillby.

the interior of the room, it had been completely different than it was a moment ago.

Sans was lying on the table, hooked up to some sort of machine that was constantly delivering data to a lone figure staring at a console.

But the most prominent thing that caught their eyes first, was the thing floating right above Sans's eyes.

A swirling blue light, the same blue as his magical eye, surrounding a very thin, nearly invisible strand of purple.

"it is good that we got him here when we did, a moment later and I wouldn't have been able to restore his control, but I cannot take all credit, some of this, was Frisk's doing."

They both looked at him in confusion.

"Frisk?"

"Yes, the human girl that fell into the underground, if she had not stopped him and knocked him out than his mind would've likely accelerated the process."

They all turned their attention back to Sans and that swirling light.

"Such a pity she gave herself over to, her…"

"So, this is his power?"

His expression changed ever so slightly.

"Yes, well, the part of it that is responsible for allowing him to access it."

…

"How?"

Alphys's question, although a very good one, was not the one she wanted to ask…

And he knew it.

"When I was, lost, my body broke apart, but I had latched a part of my soul onto Sans long before the accident, it was so I could always find him and Papyrus when they were in trouble, but somehow, he changed its purpose, I was, remade, my shattered soul reconstructing itself and my body, the entire process, was fueled by Sans's own power.

They all looked back to Sans, the unconscious skeleton seemed so peaceful now.

"Are you going to return his power?"

"Not now."

Alphys was shocked.

"But, removing a monster's power kills it."

"That is true, but I'm not removing his power, I'm only, breaking it, he will remain alive but will not be capable of accessing his abilities."

…

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because Grillby, he isn't himself, Sans is lost in an ocean of misdirected anger and until we can pull him from that ocean, he is too dangerous to have access to his abilities."

"Dangerous to us? Or to the human?"

That question shocked Grillby, of course-

"Both."

His thoughts froze up when he realized it thanks to the confirmation delivered.

Sans's powers were stripped to protect not only himself and the monsters, but also to keep the human out of danger.

…

The flame turned and left, he didn't want to there, Alphys could see that he was gripping fists, very tightly, this, had gotten to him.

…

"It's rather beautiful isn't it?"

She returned to the here and now when he spoke.

"Huh?"

"His ability, it is rather magnificent."

Looking up again she had to agree.

"To believe that this, isn't even a scratch on the surface of his powers, Sans truly is a being of exceptional talent."

"Yes, it is, something…."

He could sense it and sighed.

"You do no approve do you?"

"No, I don't."

"Curious, coming from the one to bring forth those amalgamates, still, they are interesting and deserve further study."

She sighed and let loose a soft chuckle.  
"You always looked past something negative so easily, not even my efforts disturbs you."

"Well your actions were justified and in the end, you were pressured for results, but your idea has merit, injecting Determination into monsters to preserve their life, and it works, to an extent, with some further study and refinement we can truly make full use of your idea."

She giggled a bit at that and turned to leave.

"I don't know whether I should be happy that you are here and complimenting me, or terrified of your thought to study determination like I did, but, it's good to have you back."

…

"Gaster, take care of Sans, please."

Wing Dings Gaster, smiled and nodded in her direction.

"Of course, this timeline is very interesting, and it seems to revolve around Sans."

That gave her no comfort as she left

"This timeline is very interesting indeed"


	19. Chapter 19 Lost

"Where, am I?"

Sans looked around for a moment, he could feel he was falling none stop.

His attention shifted to a figure above him when he felt it tapping gently on his skull.

"Hay Sans."

He recognized the human woman falling with him, the soft smile, the long strands of dark brown hair caught by the winds and the emerald green eyes that focused on him.

"Frisk?"

Her smile grew as she took hold of his arm to pull herself down, lying next to him in the air.

"What happened?"

"You forced my hand."

"Huh?"

He was confused, what was she talking about, and why was she an adult.

Moreover, why wasn't he angry at her and trying to kill her?

"Because I'm not real."

" _Did she just-"_

"Yes Sans, I did, because I'm part of your mind."

"What?"

She frowned, this was to be expected.

"Sans, you're on a table, Gaster reset your powers and 'pulled the plug' so you can't use it, your body is trying to recover from that."

…

"How can I believe you?"

Frisk smiled, as she did her face changed, half of it turning into a skull, His skull.

"You can believe me and listen bone head or you can refuse and we stay here for the next few months, during which Chara has time to recover and discover her new abilities, so make your choice."

She changed back and merely slipped through the air near him, enjoying herself as she did.

…

"So, if Gaster really is operating on my powers, why would he need to?"

She pointed to her eye, he reached for his burnt magical eye socket, he could feel the damage and was shocked.

"I, did this?"

"Yeah, you were so angry that you, fed it your anger, it just got worse and worse, I don't know if it will ever fully recover."

"Is it really that bad?"

…

"Sans, there was static charges being thrown around inside your eye socket, your own wild power was creating a miniature lightning storm inside your eye…"

He couldn't believe it.

"Sorry, Sans…"

"Why are YOU here? Why isn't someone else like my brother here? Someone I can trust?"

She giggled at that question.

"Because silly, deep down, you know that in the end, I'm the one you trust the most, I saved you all, so many times over that you learned to trust me over your own broth-"

"You Slaughtered everyone! How the hell can I trust you, brat?"

She frowned and distanced herself from Sans.

"That wasn't me Sans."

"Bull-"

"Sans, don't, alright, just, don't, trying to lie to yourself will only keep you here longer, how much time do you think is passing in reality huh? Not even I know."

He fell silent.

Frisk saw his frustration and shook her head in disappointment.

"You, won't wake up till you're true to yourself, you can lie to me all you want Sans, but, I know what you are really feeling."

"You can't keep me trapped in here-"

Frisk moved to Sans and forced her hand through his rib cage, pulling out, a light of some kind.

"I can, You made me promise once that if you were ever lost than I would steer you right again."

Sans felt, drained, like all his strength had been sapped straight out of him, he barely had the strength to turn and look at frisk as she distanced herself from him.

"Try to understand Sans, I don't want to do this, but until you can think clearly again, I have no choice."

He could see it, she really didn't want to, if anything, she wanted to wake him up, but she couldn't, not yet.

"Goodbye Sans, if you want to talk than, just call me, I'll be here when you need me."

She faded away with the light, leaving Sans alone, weak and falling.

* * *

"This, is very interesting."

Gaster was surprised by the readings he was receiving.

"Kain."

The mummy somehow heard his summons and entered the room, with Alphys in tow.

"Yes Gaster? Has something happened?"

"Yes, his vitals are dropping and his spiritual energy was just depleted, I need you to try and heal him."

Kain did as asked, unwrapping some of the mystery material covering him and using it on Sans.

"Any idea what caused this?"

"Many ideas, only one of which explains all of these readings, look at this Alphys and tell me what you see."

She looked at the data and was confused, it showed that his mind was in overdrive, trillions of thoughts were being formed in seconds, yet his life signs showed, a corpse, there was only the tiny, almost unseen blip that showed up occasionally, it was a signal she had seen before, right before a body turns to dust it uses the last of its energy to break itself apart.

Yet, this made no sense, that same, last moment blip, showed itself, again, and again, it had a rhythm to it.

"I, I've never seen anything like this before."

"No one has, it seems Sans's own mind is the cause of this."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been reading two separate thought patterns for the last few hours, one of them formed a thought that caused his vitals to drop so severely, but, I suspect that his life was an unfortunate byproduct of the intended target."

She realized what he was hinting at and looked up, the power wasn't there.

"You, aren't saying-"

"I made certain before I called Kain here, Sans's power, is missing, I cannot find it in his body, it is as if some power took it by force."

"Than, he should be dead."

Gaster's smile grew a little bit, he was impressed at her for remembering so quickly.

"You would be right, but, the evidence is irrefutable, he is, alive, just, not very much alive."

…

"You said that you had an idea of what could be wrong with him, what is it?"

Gaster's smile seemed to falter a little.

"Are you certain you wish to know the answer?"

"Yes."

"Very well, as you remember, Sans is, unique like Kain, I was able to amplify his abilities when he was still young but, his mind set up, barriers, to prevent himself from suffering harm, such as this."

Gaster brought his boney finger to the seared bone around Sans's eye socket.

"Yes, I remember hearing about that."

"Well, it is, however highly unlikely, a possibility that his own mind is fighting against him, he brought severe harm to his own body and it could, possible, be retaliating, trying to restore those barriers that it set in place, but it needs him to accept them again, in essence, it is a fight between his desire for revenge, and his body's desire to survive."

"What happens if he wins that fight?" asked Kain.

"If his body succeeds than the barriers will be restored and his power won't cause him further harm."

…

"And if it loses?"

…

Gaster turned away from them, back to the readings.

"Gaster, what happens, if his body loses that fight?"

He sighed, they needed to know.

"If he is lucky than he will wake up with his powers lost for good."

"And if he isn't"

…

"Gaster?" asked Kain, they both could see that Wing Dings, didn't like the answer.

"He will wake with NO barriers and his powers will be FULLY open, a moment of power comparable to what would happen if king Asgore himself absorbed two human souls, but his body would burn out, turning him into little more than an ash pile."

That knowledge haunted them all.

"That will not happen."

Kain redoubled his efforts to restore Sans' s body and it brought back Gaster's smile.

"Thank you."


	20. Chapter 20 Misplaced Anger

"So this is my mind huh? Roomy…"

Sans tried to make himself feel better with jokes, but he couldn't think of anything, anything that worked anyway.

"Heh, guess I really messed up this time."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but, this is, how it is, I can't just, let you go."

Frisk came back into view.

"How? You're not even real so how?"

"Because I'm you, you were doing serious damage to my body, your body, ugh this was so much easier in my, your head, ugh, this is confusing…"

He laughed at her frustration.

"So why did you come back?"

"It; gets lonely here Sans… I could use some company, even if it's just a hateful glare."

He tried to muster one up for her, but he just couldn't, this frisk, for some reason beyond his understanding, was completely free from his anger.

"Why?"

She said nothing, only looking away.

"Why don't I get angry at you?"

…

"Frisk…"

"Because, you know that I wouldn't hurt you or anyone else."

"But, you slaughtered-"

"That was Chara…"

"Chara?"

He remembered hearing Frisk scream out that name and, change.

"Yeah, I don't want to think about, Chara…"

"I don't care, what, is Chara?"

Frisk pulled her legs in for a hug.

"You know what she is…"

"No, I don't, that's why I want you to tell me."

She didn't.

"Frisk."

"Sans, trying to force me won't work, you know what Chara is, but you just don't want to think straight, you're so consumed by your anger that, you don't stop to think anymore, you stopped once, why can't you do it again?"

He knew what she was referring to, that day, in judgement hall when he spared Frisk.

"That, was a mistake…"

"Was it? You knew something wasn't right, that's why you needed answers…"

"I was a fool-"

"You, were a friend, one she needed, desperately, one she still needs."

He looked at her in surprise.

"What?"

"You have no idea do you?"

…

Frisk laughed.

"Your right, you are a fool."

He was about to argue with her but she beat him to it.

"Don't you think it odd that this is the only timeline that she has gone mad? That this is the only timeline that you aren't familiar with?"

"…yes a little, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"It has to do with everything Sans, Frisk had no control, you were just too caught up to notice the second presence driving her, you must've hurt that presence when you fired point blank at her with your blaster. You've felt it before, in the library, the dark corners of your house and she confirmed it Sans."

A light appeared above the pair when Frisk moved her hand in its direction, he looked up to see, his memory of the fight, of what Chara told him.

" _What will you do hmm? Bark at the dark? Blow holes into libraries?"_

…

" _Oh? How did I know? I was there, I was what you felt, you really did make an annoyance of yourself for me, but in the end, you proved invaluable for me."_

"It wasn't Frisk that hurt everyone, why won't you accept that!?"

"Because I saw HER kill everyone, I saw HER hands take my brother's life, SHE did it! Chara is just something she made up to try and get in my head."

Frisk shook her head in disappointment once more.

"You really are too hell bent to see the facts…"

"The Fact is that Frisk Killed everyone that I ever loved! I should've killed her back at judgement hall!"

"How, how could this little girl do what you say she did?""

He looked back, seeing Frisk sleeping peacefully under the tree

"Stop it, you're just trying to get in my way."

She slapped him as hard as she could.

"No Sans, I'm trying to help you, to save you and everyone else but you are just being too STUPID to realize! Frisk was trying to find a way to give you her powers, why the hell would she do that if she was going to continue slaughtering everyone?"

He had no answer, it made, no sense.

…

"this was a bad idea, I'll leave you alone Sans."

"Frisk wait."

She did.

"I'm sorry."

"it's, it's alright, you have your reasons for feeling the way you do but you need to let go of those reasons Sans, you're angry at the wrong person, the sooner you can accept that, the better for us both."

"Will you really be keeping me here till I, let go?"

"Yes Sans I will, you're only going to hurt us both if I free you now, please."

Although it angered his a bit that he was little more than a prisoner in his own mind, he accepted that she was doing it with a very good reason.

"So I need to let you believe that I'm safe for you to release me?"

She frowned, Frisk knew where his thoughts were going to.

"It's not me you need to convince Sans, I trust you, I always will, it's, yourself, attacking me like you did, it screamed betrayal to your own body, betrayal that, caused severe harm, your own body doesn't trust you…"

He was confused, what did she mean?

"Sans, you let anger over take every part of your mind, now, it may have been Gaster's saving grace, but you cannot allow that anger to stay."

"I can't let go of it…"

"You can, and you will, or this, will be your home for eternity."

Frisk was not happy with this situation, not in the least.

"I'm sorry Sans, you can see every memory you ever in current and past timelines by simply thinking about it, use this chance to go back and see, the woman that you would so easily slaughter like a lamb."

Frisk left him be, she didn't want to be here, not now.

The skeleton, knew that he only had one choice.

And there was one memory in particular that he wanted to, no, one that he needed to see.

"Let's see Frisk, what happened that night we went dancing."

When he spoke, Frisk reappeared she shook her head, frowning as she did.

"Please, don't revisit that memory."

"Why not?"

"Because, something happened that, well, it, was a bad night alright…"

"Bad? How?"

She didn't answer that question, instead she just asked, no, she begged, any memory but that one.

He gave in, the skeleton could see that his own mental construct of Frisk was, hurt when she thought about that memory.

"Alright, I'll look at some other memories…"

"Thank you Sans."


	21. Chapter 21 Shattered Boundries

How long had he been at it? Minutes? Hours? Days? Time was a funny thing to Sans in this, strange place.

He had seen dozens of memories of his past lives, looking for ones where Frisk did, something, anything for him to justify his hate, but in the end.

"You can't get anything, can you?"

He denied the mental image of Frisk an answer.

"She never wanted to, do anything bad, why can't you just accept that? Why do you cling to your anger so desperately Sans?"

….

"Well Sans? What is your answer?"

"It's all I have."

"That's a lie and we both know it."

"Maybe, to you it's a lie, but, I haven't got anything else left but revenge in sight."

"You're being short sighted Sans, Frisk isn't gone completely, there has to be a way to free her from Chara's control."

"And then what? I just, go on like nothing ever happened? I can't do that…"

She sighed before showing him, moments where Frisk, put herself in danger to save him, standing up against the world itself to keep him alive and healthy.

"She did these things for you, without anyone ever asking her to, could you, at least give her a chance?"

"You're not, listening."

"No Sans, You're not letting yourself see further than your boney fingers! This is Frisk, the human that Reset Time itself again and again because she couldn't pull you out of troub-"

He looked at her in surprise, he never saw that happen in his memories, but, she seemed to always be keeping the last memory of each timeline from him.

She realized now what she had said and merely said that, she was leaving.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you, you're obviously going to go to… Those… memories now, and I do not want to be here to experience them again."

…

"Maybe this is what it will take for you, to finally accept that Frisk, wasn't the one that brought us all this pain."

"Doubtful…"

She shook her head, he couldn't make out what kind of emotion it was that was being expressed.

"Take care Sans, some things, are best left forgotten."

She faded away, leaving him alone once more.

Her words, made him falter.

Even if she was supposed to represent Frisk, she was still part of his mind, what could possibly be so bad it made her leave instead of enduring it?

In the end however, Sans decided that, he was going to watch it, watch the events of that night, every little detail.

He needed to know what his own mind was trying to keep buried.

 _Sans and Frisk, the most unlikely of pairs, human and skeleton, had a wonderful night, the dancing was, although a little slow to really get into, a lot of fun for them both._

 _They were both surprised to see all of their friends waiting with Grillby, the flame merely said that he was surprised to see everyone show up._

" _Uh huh…"_

" _Ha-ha Sans let it go, so they were a little jealous of our night and wanted to come see."_

 _Asgore laughed at that._

" _Well, you were both a sight to see."_

" _Yes, better than what we had planned." Joked Papyrus._

" _Well, it's too late for photo's we, are going home."_

 _Sans looked at her in surprise but she merely winked at him, the skeleton was rather curious at what she had in mind._

" _Stay safe kid, hay Grill mind if I-?"_

 _He was quick to accept her request, Undyne and Alphys both quickly headed to the dance floor._

 _While everyone headed their own way, Frisk and Sans entered a different street._

" _So, what are you planning, kid?"_

" _Ha-ha your, never going to give up the kid thing are you?"_

" _Nope, sorry."_

" _It's alright, but for that, I won't tell you till we're home."_

" _Uh, whose home exactly?"_

" _Mine."_

 _She only smiled at him, the light from the moon lighting her face up._

 _He sighed and they both walked, hand in hand back._

 _They stopped when someone grabbed Sans and pulled him into a dark alley._

 _The skeleton was quick, wrenching his arm free and lighting up his magical eye, summoning up a Gaster Blaster above him to incinerate this fool._

 _He was too slow._

 _Several loud bangs came from the alleyway, he saw, punks, thieves, they emptied their weapons out on him, their, projectile weapons._

 _Several, what they humans called, 9mm rounds were embedded into the skeleton as they ran from him._

" _SANS!"_

 _He collapsed, one of the bullets, got lucky._

 _It went straight into his skull, through his eye socket._

" _F, Frisk."_

" _STAY WITH ME SANS!"_

 _She pulled him onto her lap as she dialed the emergency services, trying to get hold of an ambulance for him._

" _Frisk, thank, you."_

 _He tried to reach for her but his boney hand, fell down._

 _Sans, started to fade away._

 _Frisk, sat there, his dust all over her, she couldn't accept what she saw._

" _S,an,s?"_

 _A passing wind, swept up the dust, taking it from her._

" _SANS!"_

 _She couldn't stop herself, the power, it went, mad, her command over the timeline gripped hold of the universe._

 _Instinctively, Frisk forced the strongest reset she could muster, going all the way back._

…

"Now do you see Sans?"

He was, mortified, he had died, his death caused the first reset, and just because some punk wanted to try and rob him.

"I, had no idea."

"No, you didn't, but Frisk, always only reset to save you, or papyrus, or undyne, or, anyone of our friends… but, it was mostly you."

Sans looked at her in horror.

"How much is mostly?"

…

"Almost three quarters of all the resets, not counting the ones where Chara was forcing her to fight you in judgement hall."

He felt, simply put, like a complete and total moron, but the next moment, his entire body flared with pain.

"WHAT, IS, HAP, PENING!?"

"There are some things, best left forgotten, the memory of your own death, is one such thing Sans…"

Frisk looked like she was in pain as well but she hugged her legs, trying to ignore it and answer the next question before it formed.

"Your soul, is trying to rip out of its body, it knows it doesn't belong, so it's trying to solve that."

"CAN, I STOP, IT?!"

"No, there's nothing, we can do."

Gaster and Kain, frantically tried everything they could to keep Sans alive.

His body had started to send, strange data, the kind that, unsettled Wing Dings, but it didn't take long for, all his vitals to simply vanish.

"Come on Sans, FIGHT!" barked Kain.

No matter how much they fought to keep him alive, his body simply wasn't responding.

In mere moments, they saw the clear white Soul of Sans, start to rise from his own body.

"No, Sans don't you dare surrender!"

Gaster, did something very unorthodox.

He grabbed hold of the sides of Sans's head and focused.

Both Kain and Alphys could see, streams of darkness come straight out of Gaster, entering Sans through his eyes.

"SANS! FIGHT!"

"G, Gaster?"

Both Sans and Frisk were shocked to see the figure in front of them.

"Do not give up Sans, Fight, you can win this!"

The skeleton was too shocked to believe what he was seeing.

"Wing Dings, you're here…"

"Yes, we can discuss the details later but for now you must-"

"How? You were gone, she said you were back but I didn't-"

"Sans… clear your head, and focus, you need to survive…"

"I, I can't, Frisk, she, she's lost it, taken by, that, Chara…"

A pained giggle came from the mental image of Frisk.

"So, you finally accept that she was innocent all this time?"

"Yeah."

"Do you let go of your anger?"

…

"Sans?"

"I can't, it's all I have left, but I know, who to be angry with."

He glared at a section of darkness, when he did, an image of Chara appeared, rosy cheeks, Red eyes, a green and yellow sweater.

Frisk and Gaster could both feel, unfathomable rage coming from him, directed straight to that image.

"It's, a start…"

Frisk loosened up, heading towards him and placing her hand over his ribcage.

The light returned to her hand and was absorbed by the skeleton.

"I, thought there was nothing I could do."

"There is now, I'm not letting you wake up yet, but your soul, won't be going anywhere…"

Without warning her, soft smile changed, turning into something, hungry as she forced her entire arm through him.

When she did, Gaster was rejected from Sans's mind.

Wing Dings fell back, the forceful rejection was rather, aggressive, he did however see, spectral strands of purple reach out from Sans's ribcage and wrap around the soul, pulling it back down, into his body.

"You, You did it, all his vitals are back to normal."

"No Alphys I have done nothing, but I will admit to this, my Grandson, is truly a unique person."

Gaster's smile stretched to an unnatural length.


	22. Chapter 22 Plans

"So, I need ideas and I need them fast."

"Ideas?"

Sans locked his sights on Frisk, even if he wasn't angry at her and though she was part of him, the mental image, felt in danger.

"Yeah, I need to rip that, thing from Frisk."

"Well, uh, Sans, yeah, that won't happen."

…

"What aren't you telling me? What, do you know, of Chara…"

She swallowed hard as she backed up.

"She, she, she…"

Sans relaxed for a moment, allowing himself to vent some of the aggression he had built up.

"Sorry… but I can't let Frisk stay trapped."

…

"What?"

"Sans, when she called out to Chara she did so, willingly, tearing Chara out, will take a lot more than her being tired and shot point blank by a Blaster."

…

"Look, I messed up, she called out to that, thing, because of me, I owe it to Frisk to TRY and-"

She sighed, this was something he was wasting his breath on.

"Save me the rhetoric Sans, I'm part of you and, though I don't agree with some of your choices, we both are in agreement that something has to be done to free Frisk."

"Good, now, ideas."

"I guess we want her alive…"

"Yes."

She sighed again.

"That cancels out your **ENTIRE** arsenal, YOU can't touch her…"

Was annoyed at this, although his powers packed serious damage, she had a point, every attack he would attempt, put Frisk in harms way, not Chara.

"What about you?"

She looked at him in shock.

"Me? What about me?"

"Well, you're keeping me trapped here, and you did, take my life force away, even though you gave it back, So that must mean you have, some power."

She saw where he was going and shook her head as she giggled in disappointment.

"You, mistake, my influence here with-"

She stopped.

"Hello?"

He could see her eyes moving back and forth, she was thinking of something.

"Kid?"

"Huh?"

"You, okay?"

"Y, Yes, I just, you… Sans tell me, how DO you summon your blasters?"

He was confused at that question.

"I, I don't, know."

"You don't know?"

"Yeah, it, it's like, when I'm angry, or, or sad, I, I just lash out."

"You…Lash out…?"

She was shocked, and in a good way, a smile appeared on her surprised face.

"It, can't be that simple."

"In my research it is often the simplest abilities that carry the most potential."

Both sans and his mental image were surprised to see Gaster reappear.

"Hello Sans, and this may be?"

"Hello Gaster, I am a mental construct of Sans's own creation."

"Oh, a mental construct you say? Interesting…"

"Yes, his mind pieced me together in case he would ever, break…"

"Ha-ha, well, it seems my Grandson is truly full of surprises."

"Says the one that is supposed to be dead…"

Gaster laughed at that.

"Well, in my defense, I WAS dead, but, your own powers, pulled me from the void and, as the youngsters would say, slapped me back together again."

Both Sans and 'Frisk' visibly cringed, making him laugh again.

"We can discuss this in, full detail, once you have awoken, may I ask as to the, reason for you still being in this state?"

"He may hate Chara now, but I'm not letting him loose with that anger inside him."

"I see, denied by your own mind. An interesting turn of events indeed, now I believe we were discussing matters-"

"Hold up a second. Now I'm willing to accept that you, being you, is alive… but how did you get in here?"

During my time in the void, I, discovered, some abilities, I was unsure if they were carried over to here when you brought me back, but I seem to retain some of those, abilities, one of which is the ability to use the void itself and latch onto another, be it their soul or their mind.

The pair looked at each other, leaving Gaster to wonder what they were up to.

"You don't…"

"No, it won't work…"

"But if he can latch on…"

"it will cause quite some chaos but, I won't be able to target her directly."

"You won't have to, if he latches onto both you and chara."

"I could attack that brat directly."

"And your anger won't be a danger to your own body."

"Because I'm not using my powers in this body…"

"Obviously you won't have a lot of time before the combined wills of Chara, you and Frisk overwhelms her own body and forces you out."

"I don't need a lot of time, especially if you, slow it down sum in there."

"I, I can try, I mean, it, it's possible."

"See?"

"But Sans, this will be in HER mind, I will have very limited control, and you know that she will be ready, so most of MY focus will be in keeping whatever traps she has set up from causing any harm to you, or Gaster."

"I know, I know, but, I can take my anger over to her, your using most of your power to keep that in check, right?"

"Y, yes, if I didn't need to maintain control over your anger, than I could, function far more efficiently."

"Then it's settled."

"But Sans, you have no concept of the effect YOUR rage will have on Frisk's body, it seriously scarred your own from overloading your eye, you will be lucky if she survives the transition."

"It doesn't matter, if she doesn't, than Chara will be all that's inside her and I can destroy her without a problem."

Gaster finally chipped in, he had been curious to see how the two operated and, although he was surprised at them, he knew what they were planning.

"Sans, you could force her powers to activate, you could cause a reset from her that could, shatter time itself."

They both looked at him, she knew that it was a possibility but Sans, was surprised.

"Your mind has walls limiting your power, you broke a few when you fueled it with your anger, now that human, is fragile, are you familiar with the concept of lighting a spark near an explosive?"

…

"My point exactly and although carrying your anger, through me into her, will offer you considerably more power, it will still not be enough, Chara will undoubtedly be capable of feeding off of your own anger and become more dangerous."

He made a clear point that shot both of them down.

"Chara has been Feeding off of you and Frisk ever since you spared her at Judgement hall, until she was called, she was, licking her wounds…"

Gaster started to trail off, he was, thinking of something, a terrifying or magnificent occurrence, once that would have made Sans swallow the air hard, if he could.

"Tell me Sans, how far are you willing to go to free Frisk from her own fears, to wake her up from own nightmare?"

"You're asking, ME that?"

Gaster smiled slyly at him.

"She feeds off of you and Frisk, that is why when Frisk called to her, you couldn't best her."

He didn't quite follow.

"Your anger, damn, I knew I felt something enter you before the fight started but, I couldn't find out what it was in time, all your attacks, every beam she dodged and every bone she sidestepped, she knew it was coming even before you did."

"How can my anger give away my attacks? I was very unpredictable when I was angry."

"Sans… you saturated ALL your attacks with anger, she felt the rage grow in spots before you even formed your assault on her."

"What?"

Gaster sighed, this, was a problem to his idea.

"You can have the power of none, or a million human souls in you, but while Chara can read you, you will NEVER defeat her, especially now that she has, talents…"

"Wait, how do you know about those?"

"When I felt the familiar energies of the void I allowed myself to gaze into it while I headed to where the fight was happening, although it was, startling to see, it is clear that Chara has gained some abilities that, simply put, breaks any chance of defeating her."

…

"Unless you can somehow produce and entire field of anger large enough to trap both you and Chara inside so she will not be able to sense your attacks, there is only one way."

She rolled her eyes and sighed when Gaster spoke.

"Of course, the same thing I've been trying to do…"

"I don't understand."

"You need to stop feeling, anything, not just anger, all emotions, yet, it seems that your powers are dependent on an emotional response."

"Grillby and Kain, they-"

"Yes but no, although both Grillby and Kain will be able to, remove all emotions from themselves during a fight, they are, ill-suited to take on Chara.

"He's right Sans, they'd be restricted to their swords, and we both know how fast Chara can be, there is no telling how much faster she is now though and more than that, they will hurt FRISK not CHARA."

"I can't get in her head cause she'd win, I can't take on her on because she knows where I'm-"

He stopped.

"Wait."

"Yes Sans?"

"Back in judgement hall, I beat Chara out of Frisk."

"No, you didn't, much of Chara was focused on keeping the human from fighting her, your constant beatings tired her out, that will not be the case this time."

"You don't know that Gaster…"

While the two argued, neither of them noticed their third companion.

"Gaster, Can you target Chara directly?"

"Ofcourse, although I do not have the power to slay Chara. Why?"

Sans saw the way that she was looking at him and Gaster, it took him only a split second te realize what she was going to do.

"NO!"

"Sans."

"I've lost a lot, I'm not going to lose you too!"

"I'm not even real Sans…"

"Your real to me…"

"Look, I'm the only one that can take her on, I'll enter her mind through Gaster and wage war against her."

"You won't last five seconds!"

"Correction, if she truly is a, mental construct of, YOUR mind's desperate acts, than she indeed has the best chance to keep Chara occupied, she will offer no emotion for her to feed off of, in essence, an anomaly, much like a virus."

"A virus, ha, wow, I'm not even supposed to exist yet now im going to be a virus…"

"Don't…"

"Sans, this is the only chance, you can't fight Chara, not while she is inside Frisk."

"Inside…"

"Yes…"

She was curious at his, word of choice.

"What if she wasn't? You say you can latch onto souls?"

"Yes, I can, why?" replied Gaster curiously

"Can you rip Chara out?"

…

"No…"

"Damn…"

"Well, hmm…"

"Gaster…"

The man was in thought, another dangerous occurrence.

"hmm… I wonder…"


	23. Chapter 23 Prepared… Right?

When Gaster returned from his, venture into Sans's mind, he carried a smile that, disturbed, everyone.

"What, crazy idea has taken root in your mind now Gaster?"

"My, my Kain, you always are, direct, with your approach…"

That wasn't an answer to his question but he knew that that was as good as it got.

Gastrer however, left, heading somewhere else, Kain stayed in case something happened with Sans but Alphys was quick to follow with Grillby escorting her, more out of habit than need.

"G Gaster, where, where are you going?"

"Tell me young Alphys, your experiments into, determination, how did the SOUL fair that you used?"

"It, it survived, an, and, it, it recovered after a while, why?"

"Very good, than your experiments, will prove to be, invaluable to us."

She gasped, no, he wasn't.

"You're NOT making more amalgamates Gasters."

He was surprised at her.

"Of course not, I need the machine you used to extract the determination in the first place."

"Why?"

"I'm going to change it, as it is, it serves, little purpose for me, but with some alterations, it could be the key to stopping Chara."

"What, S, Stopping Chara, what about Frisk, the human, we need to stop HER."

"I have little time to discuss the fine points with you, but the human is no danger, it is Chara, a spirit capable of forcibly taking over the human's body. She is the real threat, and if I do not hurry, one that will be a real nightmare for us…"

"Gaster…"

"Stand in my way and I promise to end you. I spent an eternity in the void watching more timelines than you would believe, I will do what's right, and NO ONE will stop me."

Alphys felt every part of her exist freeze, like he had taken the heat of life itself from her with that threat.

Gaster, was on a mission, and she pitied, EVERYTHING that was in his way.

Gaster reached the device, with Alphys behind him, wordless and scared.

"Ah, so this is your creation, the, determination extractor."

"Y, yes, sir, this, is it."

"Hmm, tell me, did you access the soul directly or use another means of opening the determination."

"D, Direct, access, was risky, I didn't want to, lose the soul."

"Understandable, limited supply and all, hmm, but you did cause harm to the soul itself correct?"

"Y, Yes, it, reacted, violently when the extraction begun."

"Hmm, natural defensive instinct or an intelligent response…"

"I, I think it was, a, natural reaction, the soul would've reacted earlier if it wasn't."

"Hmm, that could prove to be a problem."

"Uh, sir? What, are you trying to do?"

"Well young one, Chara is a spirit, a soul, somehow she survived by feeding off of the void, now although it, changed her, somewhat, she is still at her core, a soul, I intend to tear her out of Frisk's body."

"Umm, wouldn't it be easier, to, just, take Frisk's soul out?"

His gaze turned to her, making Alphys back off.

"Take, Frisk's soul…"

"Y, yeah, I, I, I'm, it was-"

"Hmm, it would take away one source for Chara to feed from, and lower her abilities immensely, Sans, could possibly even engage in combat, if he learns another way to utilize his abilities…"

She didn't know if it was a good thing that she just sparked another idea in Gaster or not, he was a genius without equal… but that wasn't always a good thing.

"It would be, a better approach to have her removed, but if it comes to it than I could probably force Frisk out of her own body."

Alphys could have sworn she felt the air around Gaster become colder.

"Hmm, it matters little, tell me of the process you used to extract the determination if not a direct approach."

She, shyly, explained to Gaster what her machine did to extract determination, she could see his, interest growing.

"Very impressive, to think young Alphys could construct a device that could accomplish such feats."

She knew that she should have felt amazing, being praised by the great W.D. Gaster, something was, off.

"Umm, Gaster, how will you, use my determination extractor to remove a soul?"

He looked at her, his unnatural smile returned.

"That, is of little concern to you, young Alphys, simply accept that, this place is to be abandoned again."

"What?"

"Yes, we are going to lure Chara here. It would be troublesome to have any pesky anomaly getting in the way."

"Gaster."

"Yes?"

"You're speaking like this is an experiment…"

"Oh but it is, this is the only timeline that I could never see past, something, is in this timeline, that stops my sight, for the first time, in a very long time, I must guess as to the events that are going to occur, so this, will be the greatest experiment of all.

Will, I be able to force out Chara from Frisk, Frisk from herself, or will the entire experiment, prove to be, a failure of colossal proportions."

"You, You've gone mad."

"Isolation and entrapment does these things to the mind, young Alphys, now, I accept that you do not desire to assist me any further, take your people to some place that is, safe."

Alphys fell to her knees.

This was that place.

"Where, where would we go?"

"The surface, anywhere away from here for the next few months, if this experiment fails than I will personally Seal the lab, even with Chara in her, the human's body will eventually, wither away, and die…"

"You, would kill yourself if this failed."

She was no fool, the only way to seal the labs was from the inside, he would trap himself with the human.

"Ha, I have died once already, I know what waits for me this time, and if it means that the human will be incapable of bringing further harm to any of you, than I will gladly return to the void."

Gaster gently placed a hand on Alphys's shoulder.

"Young one, take Grillby and the others, away from here, Kain can assist me with the device's modifications, and Sans will be needed in the fight, whether he can use his powers effectively against her or not. He could get through to Frisk and get the human inside to fight against her oppressor."

"There, has to be another way."

"I spent some time thinking up the multitude of approaches with Sans but in the end, this is the only one that we found has merit."

Alphys knew that he was right, Gaster was always right, somehow, the skeleton monster, covered in a cloak of blackness with circular holes in his hands, he was always, right…

"Where, do we go though, where in the underground, would be safe from the human."

"I know, a spot."

Gaster and Alphys turned to look, Sans was, barely standing, supported by Kain.

"Curious, I thought you weren't allowed to wake yet."

"She knew you'd be up to something, and well, we were growing restless…"

Kain just raised his hands and shoulders in confusion when Alphys gave him a look.

"Ha-ha, very well, are you certain that this place you know will be safe from Chara?"

"Yeah, Chara wants me dead and thinks that I'm filled with anger, out hunting her, she won't be expecting me to go to the 'sweet spot' with the others."

"The 'sweet spot', of course."

Kain slapped himself in the face, he knew of that peaceful place, it would serve to hide them all rather well.

"You remember huh?"

"How could I forget? Sans, stay here, I'll take them, you just need to rest for a bit."

This was a far better choice for Gaster, if Sans was to encounter Chara now, his body would be unlikely to withstand the eruption of anger that would form.

Moreover, in his current state Sans couldn't protect someone from dirt.

"Take great care, if Chara is to discover our intentions before we are ready, than it will be, troublesome."

…

"Too late."

That voice, it sent chills to all of them.

"Hello again, comedian…"


	24. Chapter 24 Get dunked on

"C, Chara…"

Gaster saw his grandson's reaction, his left eye ignited like wildfire but Kain had to grab hold of him as his body went limp.

"Oh? Disappointing, I don't get to smash your perfect memory of Frisk further, but this way at least I get to take full credit for your demise, comedian."

"How did you get here, brat?"

With Kain's help, Sans turned around to see the human, she seemed, hollow, her skin was paler, almost completely grey surrounded by a black mist.

"The, door was wide open, thank you for leading me to the monsters who escaped, now I can take care of all of them, as well…"

Her rosy cheeked smile returned, a sight that had Sans burn even more of his anger, worsening his own wounds.

" _Sans! EASE UP!_ _ **NOW!**_ _"_

He couldn't, even though he needed to, his body screamed in agony but he was simply ignorant to its pleas as his anger seeped through, adding fuel to the arcane fire of his eye.

"What did, you do to the others?"

"I killed them Sans, every single one of them, none of them could as much as scream thanks to my new, gifts…"

"You're going to pay Brat."

She giggled at him.

"Oh? I am going to pay? You make me laugh comedian, but it is time to end you for good."

She bolted forward, she was faster than when she faced Sans before, he could only watch in horror as she came for him, her razor sharp knife ready to end it.

Only to Kain push him aside and Grillby to swat the attack away.

"You want Sans, you're going to have to come through us…"

"Ha-ha, protecting the comedian? You do know that he is the reason I could return in the first place, so you are, fighting to protect, a traitor."

Kain smiled and Grillby undid his bow tie.

"Sans, ALWAYS, has good reasons."

They both charged in, swiping at Chara in unison, she was able to back off, smiling as she did.

"Do you really think you can beat me?"

"We only have one way of finding out!"

Grillby startled everyone, even Gaster when he let loose a roar that echoed out through the halls, he was going to take her down, no matter what.

Kain laughed, few knew that behind the, VERY strict visage that grillby wore, there was a Monster, that enjoyed living, not just, a little, but, A LOT, yet, even this was a bit more than he expected.

"Alphys, I am sorry for your loss but we MUST complete this work now."

The former royal scientist looked at her mentor with, anger, and horror, despite how she felt, she helped him.

"Hay, Gramps, what can I do?"

"Sans, you, must calm down. Take this time to recover and relax."

"Relax. Relax! I CAN'T RELAX!"

" _I'm sorry Sans, it was a mistake waking you!"_

Before he could protest the skeleton collapsed, his own body denied him.

"Disappointing…"

Somehow, Sans heard that, Gaster barely turned to the machine before he felt something and turned back.

His left eye was lighting up.

"…very, unique indeed."

Sans forced himself to stand up.

" _What, HOW?"_

"Look, you keep my anger in check, and I'll take of the brat…"

Although painfully at first, the comedic skeleton, went from a limp, to a full on sprint, straight to the fight.

"This, would have been something impressive to watch…"

Alphys could hear the disappointment in Gaster's tone of voice.

"CHARA!"

Both Kain and Grillby felt it, if they had hairs on their necks, they would have been standing out completely.

Both monsters dropped to the ground, ducking from a very large energy beam.

She saw the bright light, and barely was able to dodge it in time.

"Wha, how?"

Kain, had a feeling what she was talking about.

"You, **REALLY** got on Sans's bad side kid."

Grillby could hardly believe it, Sans, was, emotionless, well, almost.

The skeleton was radiating one sensation, one, emotion if it could be called such.

Cold, hard, killing desire, the kind that, a person only felt, right before the end.

" _Alright Sans, I don't know how long I can do this trick so you better give her what she deserves!"_

Sans knew that he felt, different, if anger was heat, than he felt, very cold right now.

"I'm not letting you go brat."

Both Grillby and Kain had to back off, this was Sans's fight, and he was likely to send attacks in all directions...

"Ha-ha, you surprised me comedian, nothing more, but please, fight, let-"

They could all see the shock in her eyes when two Gaster Blasters formed very suddenly behind her and fired, she barely heard the attack in time to dodge it.

But when Chara dived to a side she saw a veritable pit of bones waiting to greet her.

She was able to grab hold of one of the bones safely and used it to force herself to a safe place.

Chara looked at Sans, the surprise still evident when she realized that, she couldn't feel anything from him.

"What's the matter Brat?"

Her look was, different, curious, angry…

" _Sans…"_

He remembered that this was a limited time gift that he had and went ballistic, firing off attacks so savage and, efficiently, it made Both Grillby and Kain seem shocked.

"Wow."

"I don't think wow covers this Kain."

The mummy laughed at that, that action caught Chara's attention, enough for her to miss a lonely bone attack that ripped across her cheek.

She was shocked and, with a shaking hand touched the wound, pulling it back to see the blood.

"You…"

Instead of anger, joy flooded from Chara, she was happy, but when she attacked Sans could barely hold up.

"Come on Sans, More, that was one Scratch, you want me dead you'll need to do more, peel my flesh, break my bones, rip my muscles apart, burn me, hate me, FIGHT ME!"

Both Grillby and Kain looked at each other before looking back to Chara, they agreed on one thing very clearly.

"She's broken…"

Despite her, 'broken' state, Chara, was easily keeping Sans on the defensive, until she saw Gaster and the machine, she was able to keep her 'broken' persona as she got around Sans, and purposefully left open a spot that he could exploit.

"JUST DIE BRAT!"

" _SANS NO!"_

"SANS STOP!"

…

It was too late…

Sans fired a Gaster Blaster, straight at Chara.

She dodged it, and the beam, destroyed not only the machine, but it took Alphys down as well.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, thank you sans, that thing would have been a bother to me, but I knew I could trust you again-"

She moved, exploiting his moment of shock.

Everyone saw it and was incapable of stopping it.

Chara, grabbed hold of Sans and kissed him, before knocking him unconscious and sprinting for the exit, Kain and Grillby tried to stop her, but she easily slipped past them and sprinted up the shaft, supported by the dark strands that kept her going.

…

This was the worst possible thing to occur.

Chara, had been able to use Sans to destroy the machine that would have proved to be a threat to her, she took the lives of the monsters that were hidden away, Alphys had been ended by Sans, and in the end, they could do nothing, but cut a small slice into Chara's cheek…


	25. Chapter 25 Consequences

Waking up with a throbbing migraine, Sans was greeted by the sight of a **very** annoyed Gaster.

"Sleep well?"

"No, not really, ugh, what happened?"

…

Gaster backed away from Sans and walked over to the machine that would have separated Chara from Frisk.

"Tell me Sans, were you simply incapable of thinking clearly during your fight?"

"Huh?"

"Was your mind unable to think further than killing Chara as you fought her?"

"Of course I could think further than-"

He got no further as Gaster slipped through the air and slapped him aside with the back of his hand.

"THAN WHY DIDN'T YOU THINK WHEN YOU ATTACKED!?"

Kain and Grillby ran to Gaster and tried to calm him down while Sans looked at him in shock.

"Your RECKLESS actions costed us the extractor and the life of Alphys Sans…"

He remembered now, the attack, how Chara was able to use him to do more damage than she ever could.

"No…"

"Denying the truth is a fool's errand, do not waste my time if you intend to deny your own actions!"

"Alphys…"

The pair had finally been able to calm Gaster down and backed off a bit.

"…You disappoint me Sans…"

Those words, stabbed deeply into the comedian, he could feel his arcane heart drop to the floor.

But in the end, Sans got to his feet.

"I'm sorry… I'll take care of this, myself."

He walked to the elevator, only to be stopped when they called to him.

"Sans what are you going to do huh? She is faster than you, stronger than me…"

He looked over his shoulder to Kain.

"I don't know, but, I'll figure something out, I owe Frisk that, I owe, Alphys that much…"

"You won't be able to touch her, she will sense your anger coming from miles away…"

…

"I Know Gaster, it's what I'm counting on…"

With that, he summoned up a Gaster Blaster and used it as a platform for him to rise up through the shaft.

Kain and Grillby used the moment to sit down and catch their breath, they had been spending all the time to transport the fallen monster dust from all the refugees to the surface of the underground where it could be properly buried.

All the while Gaster tried to restore the destroyed machine, but it was irreparable, Sans's attack was simply, too catastrophic for the machine's fragile parts to withstand.

Yet, as Grillby and Kain took a moment to relax, they saw something.

Gaster was, smiling and thinking.

"What, are you planning Sans…"

It took quite some time for the genius monster, to realize the intentions of his grandson.

"Oh my, Kain, Grillby, gather what you need, we **MUST** go after him, right now."

There was a certain desperation in Gaster's voice that, unsettled the pair.

They both only grabbed their swords and followed their friend as he headed up the elevator shaft.

Yet when they reached the top, Sans was nowhere in sight, there were no tracks for them to follow, it was like he, vanished.

"Using his construct to fly off in safety… very smart indeed."

"Damn, if he is using his Blaster to get around, we can't track him, we can't get to him."

While Kain and Gaster discussed matters, Grillby looked around.

They noticed his, unique actions when he raised his hand up and snapped his fingers.

They both watched him, curious as to what Grillby was doing, but the flame, sprinted off in a direction.

"GRILLBY!"

Both Kain and Gaster chased after him, the former was concerned for his friend while the latter, knew that he found a way to track Sans even if he was in the air.

They were going to find him and stop him before he made the biggest mistake that he ever could make.

Sans knew that he was being followed, he felt it, and although he surprised and happy, he was, annoyed.

They were going to get in his way.

"I'm sorry guys…"

He summoned up several other Blasters and had them go in other directions.

" _You know this is mistake… right?"_

"Ha, even my own mind is against me huh?"

" _I'm not against it Sans, but we both know that if, and I stress the if, we can find Chara, than she will kill you…"_

"She had plenty opportunity to kill be before, no, she is, playing with me."

Sans felt disgusted when he thought back to that kiss.

" _You can't change the past…"_

"I know that."

" _Then why are you trying so hard?"_

"Cause Frisk can…"

" _There is no way that she will be able to turn the clock again and you know it."_

It was annoying but, that was true.

"… _You aren't going to do what I think you are, are you?"_

"What other choice do I have…"

" _There is no guarantee that it will work!"_

"I have no other choice, without that extractor we can't get Chara out."

" _You'd really do it, even though you know what she did for you?"_

"I **NEED** to do it **BECAUSE** I know what she did"

…

He didn't like this, he never could, not after knowing what Frisk did for him.

"Look, I hate this too, but, I'd rather have it done like this, than ever leave her trapped in there with Chara…"

The skeleton felt a ghost sensation of the knives in his hands.

" _You know that she will not be easy, right?"_

"I kind of figured that when she handed my rear bones to me…"

" _Ha-ha, Sans, just, be careful alright."_

"I'll try, but, do you think that you could, do that again?"

She knew what he was referring too and after a large pause of silence from her, filled by the howling winds, she replied.

" _It took a lot of effort to do it the first time, but, I'm sure I can squeeze out another minute or so of filtering…"_

"Thanks, I'll need it"

He knew that, this was probably going to be his end, and, he was alright with that, even if he wasn't going to survive, he would take her down with him, one way, or another.

His attention was split for a moment when he saw through the eyes of his blasters, sight that allowed him to gaze across the entire underground and see the tiniest markings with precision. Kain was following one of them Grillby was following another, he couldn't however see Gaster, he was missing…

"So he gave up the search huh?"

He knew better, his grandfather, was up to something…

But it was too late, he wouldn't get in Sans's way, not anymore.


	26. Chapter 26 Dark Indulgence

" _Aw, what's the matter partner? Still a little torn about how easily I beat your former bf?"_

Chara was enjoying herself immensely as she sat down and took a sip of tea, all the while hearing her host crying loudly in her mind.

" _You, You monster!"_

"Ha-ha, ah, that's where you're wrong Frisk, Sans and everyone else, they are monsters, you and me, we are human, you really should have learnt that."

" _I'm NOTHING like you!"_

"Oh? Then why did you call to me? Hmm? You were so desperate for my help back then, what's wrong? Not a fan of how I handle things? Partner?"

" _YOU, I…"_

Chara smiled as she felt Frisk fight, she struggled against her, trying to retake control.

"I like the struggle, and you do to, cause you always come back for more…"

" _No, NO!"_

She got no further, Chara opened her mind, and tormented her host.

Frisk screamed out in pain and agony, not only from feeling physical suffering but from the horrendous images that she was subject to.

The human girl's savior against Sans's onslaught, was a Jailor of nightmare, one that, reveled in the suffering that she delivered unto her host.

"Ha-ha-ha, hmm, Frisk, Frisk, Frisk, when will you learn? You called me, **YOU** gave yourself to me, there is no escaping your decision, just accept that, you and I, will be together forever, partner."

Chara giggled further as she relaxed into the chair that she was sitting on.

" _I, I will, no, Sans, will, win, you, you don't stand, a chance…"_

Her giggling continued.

"You know where we are right partner?"

" _T, Tori, Toriel's, house…"_

"Hmm, so your memory is still intact? Good girl, keep your sanity and memory as long as you can, it will make it so much more fun when you finally collapse, yes we are in Toriel's house… and Sans can come, I will show him the same 'love' that we showed Toriel…"

" _You, can't."_

Another session of, disciplining, was brought down upon Frisk.

"I can, and I will, but, I'm sure that, Sans will be deserving of more love than Toriel ever was…"

"… _W, What, are, you…?"_

She giggled as ideas started to form as to what she was going to do with Sans.

"HE is the most stubborn person I've ever met, not even Asriel was as stubborn as he is when he took my soul…"

" _Your, point?"_

Putting down the tea Chara sat upright as the ideas grew.

"I really do hope to see him again, and again…"

" _What….? Why?"_

"It will be fun to see how he, handles me."

Silence echoed out from Frisk as Chara's mind was filled with thoughts of her and Sans, even if they were mostly one sided.

" _You're mad!"_

Her smile vanished as she scorned Frisk for her interruption.

"There are other ways of, convincing him to spend time with me, you know that right?"

" _What, are you, talking about?"_

Chara giggled and stood up, walking over to a mirror.

"Sans, Sans, Sans…"

She repeated this action for the better portion of an hour, changing her voice ever so slightly, Frisk, was curious how she was able to do that, but, her thoughts were more occupied with something, far more important.

" _Why are you-"_

"Sans! Help me!"

She realized now, what her captor was doing.

"Oh Sans, Thank you, Chara, she, left me, get me away from here, please."

Frisk was completely horrified, Chara, was able to completely mimic her voice.

" _You, You won't fool him!"_

"Oh? The comedian will accept that it is you, that you were able to chase me out and escape…"

She giggled at that and placed her hands over her eyes, she felt pain for a moment as they changed, their color, reverting to the bright emerald green that was Frisk's.

Her voice, her eyes, her body…

Any sign of Chara, was gone, even her signature rosy cheeked smile was gone, replaced by the soft and gentle smile that would have been able to make previous Sans's melt.

"Perfect."

" _You, You won't, fool him."_

"Oh? What's that I hear in your voice? Doubt?"

…

She giggled at the silence, even that had been changed to Frisk's gentler giggle.

"I'll admit Partner that, I'm no fan of how much I needed to, give up, for this, but it will be nice to spend some time with him. Imagine the horror when he puts his guard down and I slide a knife through his heart."

She giggled as that glorious image filled not only her mind, but Frisk's as well, who proceeded to scream in terror.

" _NO! CHARA DON'T YOU DARE!"_

"Ha-ha, I'll let it go this time Frisk, but, if you do anything to try and get in my way, than you'll wish for a discipline session compared to what I will do to you."

She giggled and returned to the chair, sitting comfortably in it.

" _You, you…"_

"Yes? What about me?"

" _I won't forgive you."_

"Ha-ha, I don't your forgiveness partner, I have what I wanted from you, just play a nice little girl, do as your told, and don't speak or I will have to punish you. Okay?"

…

Frisk couldn't usher a single word against Chara, she was too afraid, not of what would happen to her, but of what would happen to sans.

"Good girl, now, I'll finish my tea than we can go looking for him, alright?"

….

" _Alright…"_

Despite what she said Chara, would have preferred to hear some sort of defiance, some sort of, harsh words, anything.

Submission, was a disappointment that, she never enjoyed.

That is why Chara always fought to the death, why she never allowed her prey to escape.

Or well, that is what she used to do, now, she had her eyes on a specific little piece of prey, one that she would enjoy toying with, far more than she would if she only, killed him outright.

Not that fighting Sans wasn't fun, but he was much like a roach… no matter how many times she tried, he wouldn't die.

He always came crawling back for more.

That's why she gave him the same treatment in judgement hall, to kill a pest that always returned, you'd need to become a pest that always returned.

But to kill Sans, would be far less satisfying if it was through another dull battle.

She felt the small wound on her cheek and smiled.

He may have been better now, but he caused a lot of more damage to her in the hall, enough to make that cut seem invisible.

Still.

She enjoyed feeling the wound form.


	27. Chapter 27 Masquerade

Sans, the comedic skeleton, had thought he caught a lucky break.

During his search for Chara he sent out other Gaster Blasters, even though it taxed his body pretty badly, he could look faster.

Eventually one of the blasters spotted her, but, something was off.

He had the blaster follow her from a large distance to make sure that she wouldn't be alerted to its presence while he rested for a moment.

What bothered Sans however, was that she was looking for him, calling him by name, not by the nickname 'Comedian' that she had dubbed him, and, she looked different.

"What is she up to?"

" _Isn't it obvious?"_

…

He knew that the answer was simple, Chara was trying to-

He couldn't finish his thought, a wall of darkness, chased Chara, she ran from it, she was scared.

She screamed his name out as she ran, no, it, couldn't be…

" _Sans… That is not Frisk."_

"What if she is? Why would she be running if she isnt?"

" _Sans, its Chara, she is trying to fool you!"_

"She doesn't know that blaster is trailing her."

" _Sans, I know what you're thinking, don't!"_

"if she, found some way to get away from Chara-"

" _Sans! Chara wouldn't let her-"_

"I'll keep my guard up, keep an eye on her, if you're right, than do your thing so we can finish this."

…

" _I know I'm going to regret saying yes…"_

Sans almost jumped up as he headed to one of his 'shortcuts'.

Chara couldn't suppress her smile as she ran from 'herself', she could feel the blaster's gaze on her since the beginning, and through it, she could feel Sans, so when she felt something had changed about the way the blaster's presence was being projected, she knew that he was coming, either to end her or to 'save' his beloved Frisk.

" _You demon."_

She couldn't risk replying to Frisk, not right now, but soon she will have her chance to discipline the little girl for her rants and harsh words.

And when that time came, she was going to savor every moment of the perpetual agony she will deliver to Frisk…

"SA-!"

"Gotcha."

Chara was shocked and had to resist every fiber of her existence screaming for her to defend herself as Sans ran next to her and grabbed her before sprinting off, summoning up a pair of blasters behind him to fire at the wall that was chasing her.

" _Sans, no! Don-"_

This time, Chara couldn't just take it anymore, she allowed herself a moment of pain inducing thoughts, both for her pleasure and to silence Frisk.

"Sans?"

She looked at him, trying her best to act as Frisk would, which was surprisingly easy.

"Don't worry Kid, I'm getting you out of here."

He did, Sans's sprint surprised Chara, he was determined to get her out of here, yet when they reached an abandoned village he nearly threw her against the floor.

"Sans what-"

She felt it before she even saw them, a pair of Gaster Blasters were above Sans, aimed at her and the area was filled with bones.

"Shut up."

" _Yes."_

This, was too important to have Chara split her focus, she allowed Frisk to rant, to scream, to try and encourage Sans to end her, but, her words never escaped the confines of her mind.

"Alright, Frisk, if it's really you in there, tell me, how did you escape from Chara? How did you get free?"

" _Yes, how did you get rid-"_

Frisk was interrupted by more disciplining, Chara expected this and was ready to reply.

"S, Sans, she, C, Chara, I, forced Chara out, she was, getting tired from constantly fighting me, even when she slept, I, was able to-"

"Stop, Chara killed Alphys-"

"That, was you."

She realized what she just blurted out and tried to spin a story of how she tried to stop Chara, about how she was sorry.

…

"Alright, so, what happened at judgement hall?"

Chara smiled inside but didn't allow her body to follow in suit.

"You, You killed, me, again, and again, Chara, she, loved every second of it."

At least she wasn't lying, few things could compare to blissful joy that Chara felt as Frisk's body was torn apart, her bones shattered, her organs punctured and her life ended, again and again.

Sweet, suffering for her enjoyment…

The question carried on for quite some time, but as soon as it seemed that Sans started to trust her, he spun a curve ball, a simple question that would be Chara's end.

"You're good Brat, but here's something that only Frisk could know."

Chara felt like she had just been backed into a corner, a corner filled with explosives ready to decimate her body…

What was he going to ask that 'Only' Frisk would know.

"The night we went dancing, what happened when we went back home?"

…

He raised his hand to signal the attack, but she replied, stopping him in time.

"You, died, some, punks tried to mug us, but you resisted and got shot, you, you-"

Sans watched as she fell to her knees and watched her hands through teary eyes.

"I, couldn't let you go, I…"

Full blown crying echoed out through the formerly empty building.

Sans… released his attacks, allowing them to fade away as he gave 'Frisk' a hug.

"I, I'm sorry kid, I just, needed to make sure it was you…"

Chara felt his arcane lips, gently place a soft kiss on her cheek.

She allowed herself some mental praise as she returned the hug and kept the flood gates open.

" _Damn I'm good, ha-ha, thank you for the memories Frisk, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to answer him, this, will be fun, partner."_

She received no reply, Frisk was simply too horrified at what just occurred, somehow, by some horrible curse, Chara wrenched the memory right out from her soul.

She had full access to not only Frisk's body, but also her memories, and there was nothing that Frisk could do to reclaim the former, or deny the latter.

Chara had all the tools she needed, to make the perfect replica of her host.

And that, brought about incredible amounts of enjoyment for the dark spirit keeping the lone human girl prisoner inside her own mind.


	28. Chapter 28 Blinding Hopes

"Sans?"

Both the comedic skeleton and the human girl turned their attention to the entrance of the house they were in.

Gaster himself stood in the entrance.

Before Sans could reply Chara moved behind him.

"Frisk?"

"Sans step away from that girl…"

Several things started to form around Gaster, Blasters, unlike any that Sans had ever summoned.

"Hay, easy Gaster."

He didn't, instead Wing Dings readied an attack that would rip clean through Sans to reach the target.

"BACK OFF!"

Dozens of Sans's constructs formed around him as his magical eye lit up, he wasn't going to let his grandfather threaten him, or Frisk.

"You are being foolish Sans, Stop trying to protect that human, Chara will-"

"Chara isn't in her, now get rid of your attack, or you're gonna have a bad time."

…

Gaster looked at his grandson and the human girl hiding behind him, maybe, he was wrong?

As the skeletal pair stared each other down Chara slowly reached for a knife hidden in her pocket, this, was bad, she doubted that anything could persuade the genius monster, in the end, she was going to need to cut short her time with Sans and use him as a shield against the initial attack, the shock Wing Dings would experience was going to offer her a chance to slide the cold steel of the knife through his spinal cord.

But, instead of a devastating attack, Gaster, did as told.

"You are certain that Chara is truly not part of her anymore?"

Looking over to her, Sans said yes.

That made Chara laugh hysterically in her mind.

"Very well, if you are mistaken-"

"I'm not."

Sans saw the miniscule change in Gaster's expression, it was easily the equivalent of a twitch and thoughtful glare.

He was not impressed with Sans's reply.

"Never be so quick to cut off all other possibilities, doing so will seal you in a singular path of self-destruction Sans…"

The reply, came not from Sans, but from his still present Blasters, something akin, to a growl.

Deep, lethal, the kind that could haunt a person's mind, scratching on the walls of sanity with expert talent if left to persist…

The kind of growl, that unnerved even Chara, but for her, it was unnerving, for different reasons.

"…Very well…"

Gaster, left, he stepped out of the house and turned to head away from them.

"Watch yourself well Sans, your decisions could, be your undoing…"

Those were his last words before leaving his grandson with the human.

Chara smiled as she stood behind Sans, this, was not at all what she expected, but it was going to be so much more advantageous to her than what she had in mind, she remembered however the knife she was holding with natural talent, the cold steel seemed to call to her desires for a split second before she had to hide it again as Sans started to turn around.

He looked at her, his magical eye still glowing, but it was much dimmer than before, he motioned his open hand to her in a 'give it' manner.

She tried to act confused but he was blunt.

"The knife, Frisk, give it here…"

Chara was slightly annoyed, but she pulled it back out and, fighting most of her instincts, handed it over to him.

"How, did you know?"

Looking at the knife, Sans only told her he had his ways before putting it in his pocket and releasing his summoned constructs.

"Come on kid, let's get outa here, before that thing can catch up with us."

She understood that Sans was referring to the wall of darkness, to the 'Chara' that was chasing them earlier, she had forgotten about it already, merely another annoyance to be left now that she had achieved her goals.

"Alright…"

They reached the door and after looking around outside a bit Sans turned to tell Frisk to follow, but he stopped, noticing that she was wearing her tattered sweater, the chilling winds could easily slip in and freeze her up.

Chara was surprised when she saw him give her his hoody.

"There kid, sorry I didn't notice till now…"

She was a little confused, sensations like cold and hot, they didn't register to Chara, that is why she was easily able to ignore the scorching heat coming from Grillby when she fought him.

"What's the problem?"

Sans noticed her hesitation and found it rather, curious.

"Uh, is, it alright?"

Sans chuckled a bit before patting her head, mistaking her moment of confusion for hesitation.

"Sure kid, I just want it back later okay?"

Nodding Chara, slowly, carefully put on the hoody.

Despite having access to Frisk's memories, she had no idea just how, comfortable the hoody was, she doubted that she was actually awake for a moment, but sans brought Chara back to reality.

"You sure you're okay Frisk?"

She giggled and headed to him, hugging sans as tightly as she could, without showing any suspicious quantity of sudden strength.

"Thank you Sans…"

…

" _Sans! KILL ME!"_

Chara twitched as she heard the mental cries of her host, it was annoying and 'mood breaking' but, it served to bring her joy, a sign clear as day.

She had won.

"Let's, go."

Parting from Sans Chara felt her true smile itching to come through, but she had to resist it, she needed to play the part and wear the smile of an 'innocent Frisk.'

Luckily it was a role that she was able to fulfil with ease as she agreed with Sans, and they both headed out, they would need to find a place to stay, at least for now.

Sans may have fallen for her ruse, but she was no fool, she would need to work with him, solidify his trust in his beloved Frisk again, once he was foolish enough to trust her with all he had, that was when she could make full use of the foolish comedian.

That was when she would have her moment of free reign over him.

Sans would do anything for her…

And she was going to enjoy the chance to use him for what she had in mind.

Not only would she achieve what she wanted, but she could crush him completely in the process.

" _Sans…"_

As Chara enjoyed her plotting and scheming, a pair of monsters, far from her or Sans, discussed a rather important matter.

"Are you certain about this?"

"Yes my king, there is little I can do to save him, but, it matters not."

"What do you mean?"

"She wouldn't have done this, without reason."

"What reason would-"

"Be ready my king, I believe that you, are the one she wants."

…

"How long?"

"I know not, but she is a patient one, she waited till now, so I do not think it will be soon."

…

The larger of the two sighed.

"Very well, do what you must."

"Of course…"

The other started to walk away but was stopped.

"How many survived?"

Silence was the answer….


	29. Chapter 29 Dark Choices

"You hungry kid?"

Chara looked at him curiously, what would Sans have to offer her.

"Well?"

She nodded quickly before diverting her attention to something she thought she saw, Sans could see her interest turn to somewhere else and looked in the same direction.

Neither of them carried on, something was, there…

Chara slowly reached for another knife, but stopped, Sans already caught her trying to keep one from him, what would he do if he somehow spotted the other, she still didn't know how he was able to see the first one originally either.

She would need to wait and find out how he knew first-

The same bush that both of them had been staring at for so long stirred, the split second where it moved Sans summoned up a Gaster Blaster and aimed it straight at the bush.

"Come out."

They waited, and although she would have loved to watch as Sans obliterated whatever was there, she knew that Frisk would stop him.

"Sans."

He eased up, letting his blaster fade away, in time to see what it was that was in the bush, crawl out of it.

A Temmie.

Chara quickly headed over to the poor monster after telling Sans to stay where he was, he'd done enough, it was in pain and didn't need him threatening it...

"Hay, what's wrong?"

"T, Tem, sick."

"Oh no, what a shame."

Sans couldn't see Chara's hand snake over the temmie's mouth, locking it shut.

"Let's see what we can do to help."

The monster looked at her in horror as a smile appeared on the innocent face of Frisk, it started to struggle but, she had it locked solidly on the ground.

"Tem?"

Frisk screamed at Chara, begging her to stop, but there was nothing she could.

Her murderous captor, used Frisk's own hands, to quietly break the monster's neck, leaving Sans, completely unaware of what happened.

"TEM!?"

"Frisk?"

"it, it's dead."

Chara fell back, in time to let Sans see it turn to dust.

"What happened?"

She looked at the comedic skeleton as he headed over to her in concern.

"I, I, I don't know, I, it just-"

She played the part well of a confused and scared little girl with memories of past futures.

Sans sighed, this, was completely unexpected, and it was getting to her badly.

"Frisk."

She hugged her legs and sobbed.

"Frisk…"

No reply.

"Hay Frisk, it wasn't your fault okay."

He hugged her gently and helped her to her feet.

"Come on, we need to get going…"

"o, okay…"

She looked over to the pile of monster dust and although she frowned in sadness, Chara, had the very opposite feelings of what she was portraying.

Seeing the life drain out from the terror filled eyes of that lone, sick Temmy, indescribable.

Yet, as much as she enjoyed it, and as much as the horror factor was terrifying for Frisk, Chara's host, continued to fight against her, she had to wonder, what was it that still drove her?

Was Frisk still trying to save Sans from the demon child in his midst? Was she trying to take her body back so she could end it herself, there were no monsters noteworthy for her to try and rescue anymore so that couldn't have been the reason.

Or was it; that she simply fought, because that was all she could do now?

It was an interesting question for Chara, why did Frisk still fight this pointless battle, she had won and her host had lost, no amount of effort would ever change that, so why?

Chara and Sans had made surprising distance in a short amount of time, but, it seemed to the former like the latter was leading them in circles.

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we going?"

…

"Sans?"

"I don't know Kid, I've been trying to think of a place for us to stay a bit."

Chara rolled her eyes, of course this would be what he was doing.

"What about, your house?"

"e-he-he, that's, gonna be a problem."

"Why?"

"I uh, got angry, at you and uh, blew it up…"

Chara wanted to laugh at his foolishness but had to act calm and concerned while a bit scared, he did after all, blow it up in anger at her.

The pair talked trying to find a good spot for them to stay at for a bit that would have some food too.

"Uh, Sans?"

"Yeah?"

…

Chara looked to her feet, acting shy and a little ashamed.

"Frisk?"

"uh, what, about, Toriel…"

"T, Tori? Kid are you sure?"

"n, never mind…"

Sans actually started to consider it, there was plenty of food and clean water at Toriel the last time he was there, and it was, comfy to say the least.

But there was, a problem.

Looking over to her, Sans knew that, the memories of what Chara had her do, they would, be haunting.

But as soon as that thought had formed he realized something else.

Every waking moment for Frisk had to be a nightmare, this was her hell, she would be remembering everything that Chara made her do, every kill that Chara had her do, every life that was taken Frisk would be remembering despite where she was.

"Kid? Are you sure you'll be alright."

Chara moved closer to him and gently squeezed his boney hand as a confirmation.

"Alright kid, but if you have second doubts we can find somewhere else."

She nodded in agreement, Sans accepted her decision and they headed over to the late Toriel's home in the ruins…


	30. Chapter 30 Backfired

"Where am I?"

Chara, former human child, the first to fall into the underground, a spirit of nightmare, was lost, all she could see was darkness surrounding her.

"Chara…"

She turned to the source of the voice only to see nothing.

"Show yourself!"

"I won't forgive you."

A lone figure appeared, a woman.

Frisk, no child but her adult form, she looked at Chara with something that, didn't belong.

Hate filled Frisk's emerald green eyes, making it appear as if they carried a tiny gleam of red in them.

Chara didn't know what to do, this had never happened before.

"You won't win this Chara."

She giggled and reached for one of her many concealed knives, only to find, it wasn't there.

She looked at herself as she tried to find a weapon, stopping when she saw the green and yellow stripes of HER sweater.

"What-?"

"Looking for this?"

She looked right back to Frisk and saw the knife in her hands, it made her laugh.

"What are you going to do?" asked Chara as she smiled, able to enjoy her wide rosy cheeked smile again.

Yet the reply, was unlike any she expected, her body, froze up, her limbs refused to budge, it was like she had become completely solid.

"You made the mistake of coming here Chara, now, it's time I get some revenge on you."

That statement made her laugh hysterically as Frisk walked closer to her.

"You? You? Want revenge? Come now partner, you can't even harm a fly, let alone get revenge on me."

Standing right in front of her, Frisk only stared into the crimson red eyes of her captor.

"You, showed me a lot…"

Her reply only made Chara continue to laugh.

"You're a soft hearted fool, you feel bad whenever you see someone slap something, how are you going to live with yourself, torturing me?"

Frisk stood still, Chara saw her hands shaking as she tried to grip the knife tightly, it brought no end to her laughter.

"S, Sh, SHUT UP!"

At first, it didn't register with Chara's mind, it took her some time to catch up with what just happened before she looked down for confirmation.

Frisk had forced the knife through her captor's heart.

…

"Is that everything?"

Frisk looked up at her in shock, a stream of tears formed, likely when she used the knife on the one that caused her so much harm.

Yet despite the sharp object imbedded in her chest, it seemed like Chara was, disappointed, even bored.

"You-"

"Frisk, Frisk, Frisk, you see, I like the pain, that's why I bring pain for everyone to enjoy."

She giggled this time, a quieter, yet, somehow, more nerve wracking sound.

"So, please, you were able to get me here, you have me stuck, take your time, cut me, maim me, dismember me and skin me, don't give up after just one little thrust, we have so much more to do…"

Although this was a surprise and something of an annoyance at first, Chara was happy, Frisk, had in the end, only provided a source of amusement for her…

But as all things, it had to end, and Chara was able to out wait her opponent, when Frisk tried to escape from the world she had pieced together to try and punish Chara, she was stopped.

"Ha-ha, Oh Frisk? Where are you going, it's my turn now…"

* * *

Sans was, pleasantly surprised, after they arrived at toriel's home, he and his companion had a rather nice cup of tea, and although it seemed like 'Frisk' was unhappy to be back at the place where she met Toriel, she slept surprisingly well.

They both were at the fireplace, the skeleton watching over her as she slept comfortably against a chair, she didn't want to sleep in one of the beds available, saying that, she could never do that again, after what she did and despite him making it clear that it was Chara and not Frisk, it didn't change her decision.

Looking at her Sans wondered, what she was dreaming about, it had to have been something very nice since there was a smile on her face.

" _I don't know Sans…"_

He sighed, it was obvious that this conversation was coming.

"Look at her, are you really going to tell me that Chara is inside there?" replied the skeleton in a silent whisper.

" _You should know that, whatever Chara is, we can't be sure by looks-"_

"Than how about her actions? She wasn't acting that weird at all."

" _What about the knife, she tried to conceal it from you."_

…

"Wouldn't you? I killed her, a lot, I forced her up against the wall, I'm the reason she called out to Chara, not even Frisk would be able to forgive me for ALL of that…"

" _What about Gaster?"_

This was one part of the subject that was bothering Sans the most, and his mental construct as well, it was the largest piece that didn't fit.

"What do you mean?"

" _Come on Sans, Gaster was ready to kill you to get to her, doesn't that throw off any warnings for you?"_

"Yeah, it does, but Gaster's been dead for a really long time… he's bound to make a mistake now that he's back."

…

She sighed in frustration.

" _Sans… this is Wing Dings Gaster we're talking about, your Grandfather of all monsters…. Are you honestly going to try and tell me that he has a few screws loose?"_

"Are you going to honestly try and tell me that he doesn't have a few screws loose?"

She submitted, even before the accident, Gaster was a little, unstable, genius, but still a little unstable.

"Alright look, we had a deal, so you just be ready in case I'm, wrong."

The hesitation in his voice, disturbed her a bit but she gave in, Sans was glad, arguing with himself, couldn't have been good for his mental health, at all…

Looking at the time, Sans decided it was time for him to go and make something for them to eat, Frisk would be waking up soon…

Waking from her, glorious dream, Chara was overjoyed, not only when she felt the beaten and broken state of Frisk's mind, but from a scent in the air that was rather appetizing.

She followed the scent to its source and saw Sans cooking up something for them to enjoy.

"Uh, Sans?"

Looking over his shoulder Chef Sans saw her, almost drooling for the meal he was making.

"Wow, easy kid, it's nothing special, you're putting a lot of pressure on me with that look."

She giggled and backed off, leaving him to finish making breakfast while she headed to a large mirror in a different section of the house.

"Frisk?"

Her silent summons gained little reply.

"Frisk, you were VERY naughty last night, the normal punishment won't do."

" _Wha?"_

"Oh yes, I have something VERY special in mind for you now, partner."

" _No, leave Sans-"_

Giggling further she told her that Sans, was safe, she had no interest in taking his life, just yet.

"No, I have something far more, appropriate in mind for what you did to me."

" _What, are you-"_

"Now, now, Partner, you'll know what I have in mind when you hear that greeting of his."

…

"Howdy."

Chara giggled again as she let that last bit slip out, although this wasn't part of her plan yet, Frisk needed to learn her place already and this, was definitely going to help with that, and Sans, well, if she could exploit him for that, it would be all the easier.


	31. Chapter 31 Oddities

The comedic skeleton very much enjoyed his company despite the place they were, it was fun to have her around again, the original Frisk.

But he did notice something though that, bothered him a bit.

Frisk seemed, COMPLETELY uninterested in her research.

He was glad and knew that she would need to practically start from scratch but still.

She was so adamant before, that happened…

"Kid."

"Hmm?"

"So uh, we going to go and get you new books? I uh sorta toasted the ones you were using…"

Chara was confused, she was on the verge of asking him why she would need books but two things stopped her.

The first was the memory of what Frisk was trying to accomplish, the second, was Frisk herself, taunting her.

" _Yes Chara, are we going to get new books?"_

Sans waited for her reply, analyzing the slight shift from surprise and confusion to understanding, he wondered why she would react like that.

"Is it, alright?"

"Of course, I, would rather you didn't but, I know better…"

…

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we, put that on hold for a bit? I have something more, important to deal with…"

That, shocked Sans, what the hell could be more important than her suicidal intent to transfer her powers over to him?

" _Sans, I don't like this, something isn't adding up now…"_

He had to admit that the quiet, mental voice from his own mind's creation had a point, something was, different, she was still Frisk but, something must've happened, Chara must've done something to convince her it was a bad decision.

"Frisk?"

She looked at him, waiting for whatever he was going to say.

"I uh…"

…

He didn't finish his sentence and Chara waited patiently, at least for the first few minutes.

"Sans? You what?"

"Just, never mind okay, on our way back from whatever you need to do we can grab you new books."

"O, kay?"

His actions were odd to both Chara and her host.

"Wow, I need some fresh air."

He walked out from the room and headed out of the house.

As Sans paced back and forth in front of the entrance he heard that lone voice in the back of his mind.

" _You, couldn't tell her…"_

"What do you expect? It's not something I can just say in passing you know."

" _Sans, you really think that it's a good idea to keep this from her?"_

"yeah, hi Frisk, I know what you've been trying to do, giving me your powers and all, thanks for the effort kid and it's possible with that book you took from here, oh and here's the best part, you DIE when I get your powers, no soul human or otherwise can survive basically being split open like some fortune cookie and having parts of it torn out before being plastered back together again with supernatural glue and Duct tape… still I appreciate the thought and all, so keep up the good work kid, you're really making Tori and Gory proud."

…

He felt the defeat of his mental construct even before she said anything.

" _You're, right…."_

"You don't say…"

Despite knowing she would give in, when she did, it only served to worsen his mood.

"… _Sans…"_

"Huh? You say something?"

She told him no, but Sans definitely heard it, someone or something was calling to him….

But in the end he couldn't make out who or what it was, the voice only called him once and it was, distorted, muffled, like someone was screaming his name from inside a nearly soundproofed room, what little escaped was caught by a very bad microphone and played through very weak speakers.

Despite the terrible condition of that voice's one call, it felt, familiar.

"Hay, you did, hear it right?"

…

"Well?"

" _Yes, Sans, I heard it, whatever it was."_

"Do me a favor and, keep an ear out for it if it comes back."

" _Sans… we LITERIALLY are one and the same you know…."_

He chuckled a bit.

"You're in my head, so try that one again bonehead."

" _Ugh, you know what I mean! But, fine, I'm curious about whatever that was anyway."_

"Thanks kid."

"For?"

Sans almost completely decimated Frisk's body when he spun around in fright, that voice was completely unexpected and was nearly rewarded with a barrage of bones and several volleys from Gaster Blasters that were summoned up in a heartbeat.

Chara looked at the array of attacks lined up against her and couldn't stop her hands from twitching, all her focus was locked on keeping them from reaching to the knives that were burning holes in her clothing.

" _Oo, a little trouble Chara?"_

She mentally screamed at Frisk to shut up, keeping her host's mind in line was a tedious duty but, if she distracted her now than it could be all over.

" _Come now, you didn't really think this ruse would last forever did you?"_

No response, her focus returned solely on the here and now, time seemed to move at a snail's pace as she watched the blasters and waited.

Luckily, her patience payed off in the end.

Sans relaxed, allowing his attacks to fade and apologizing for what he did.

"Don't scare me like that again Kid, jeez, you almost gave me a heart attack."

She giggled before saying she was sorry.

"So, what did I do?"

"Huh?"

"You thanked me, what for?"

He realized now what she was talking about and replied.

"Uh, I was, talking to myself kid."

She eyed him with minor disbelief.

"Then why did you say thanks KID? What, aren't you telling me hmm?"

He chuckled a bit, this was an odd situation to be in, to say the least, she was right, he did say 'kid' but she would never believe him if he told her the truth, well, the WHOLE truth…

"Frisk, I really was talking to myself, don't worry bout it alright?"

"Hmm…"

In the end, Chara gave in, maybe she was just imagining a problem or some hidden info.


	32. Chapter 32 Unforeseen Side-effects

Sans found himself in a tight spot, yesterday he was challenged with trying to tell Frisk the truth about her research only to fall short, she told him that something more important had come around, something far more important than the sole reason for being she had before they were nearly robbed, and now, she was going to do whatever she needed to but he was to go with her all the while he had discovered something while she slept.

"Sans, come on, aren't you ready yet?"

The skeleton chuckled as he heard that summons but he was looking intently on the cold fireplace, the ash pile, like it was more interesting than anything he had ever seen.

"Hay, what are you doing?"

Chara gently grabbed hold of his shoulder to catch his attention.

"huh? Sorry kid, guess I was-"

She didn't give him time, Chara could feel something was up, and what he said yesterday, thanking her or more importantly, thanking frisk without knowing she was there, something wasn't right.

"Sans, what's wrong."

He didn't want to answer, the skeleton found out only hours ago while she slept.

"It's nothing-"

"Sans…"

He fell silent.

"What, is, wrong?"

After a large struggle Sans was able to convince her it was nothing, well, Chara let him think she was convinced.

"Come on kid, you wanted to do something right?"

"Yeah, I, want to, apologize to the king…"

The skeleton's mind turned blank, did he really hear right?

"I, can't do this, without you Sans."

…

"Frisk."

She tried to look sad and innocent as she looked at Sans but, what he said, surprised her.

"Are you mad kid? Asgore will KILL you!"

"I-"

"he thinks you slaughtered everyone here! You honest…"

He carried on for what felt like hours, until eventually Chara, grew bored of his ranting and, very unlike Frisk, replied.

"Would you shut up? I need to do this! I'm depending on you to make sure he doesn't kill me."

That, only made Sans feel worse.

"Hay, Sans? Are you still there?"

She was, actually starting to get worried, Chara, of all beings, was starting to become concerned for Sans, SANS of all things, even if it was the kind of hollow concern like that of a scientist over one of a million experiments he or she would be conducting…

"Frisk, I, I don't think-"

"Please Sans…"

He was ready to slam his skull into the wall with his next reply.

"Frisk, A, alright… I'll, help…"

"Thanks Sans, now, come on."

She headed on ahead, letting Sans follow her, but the skeleton slammed the wall with his boney fist in frustration.

" _I, I'm sorry sans I didn't know it was going to happen."_

While he walked with 'Frisk' the skeleton replied to his mental companion without ushering a single sound.

"It's, alright, I was foolish to think there'd be no repercussions…"

" _Still, I, I should have known!"_

"You can't blame yourself kid, just, how long do you think I have?"

Sans looked at his hand, the one he always used for attacks, the one linked to his blue arcane eye.

There was a tiny, almost none existent crack right in the center, he wouldn't have known about it, if last night, he didn't see a dull blue light coming from the crack itself, even now, there was a light glowing, barely hidden away in the light from lamps and other sources of illumination.

" _I, don't know, its, not getting any worse, but, we both know that, that isn't the immediate problem…"_

The skeleton put a lot of effort into suppressing the sigh of frustration, disappointment and ultimately, defeat.

"Why, Why now?"

"… _I, don't have the answers Sans…"_

That only added to his frustration.

Sure the hand with this lone crack had been through FAR worse, it had been scorched, sliced, impaled, nearly blown apart by a Gaster Blaster, subjected to molten metal from a knife he had to destroy to free the hand from when frisk, no, from when Chara lodged it into the floor of his house.

But it always recovered, every one of those injuries were, physical, recoverable, but this, this was not a mere, physical wound.

He needed to hide this, Frisk had been through enough, if she knew…

" _It could BE Frisk that is the cause."_

If Sans had a human's head, he would have felt his eye twitch.

" _Just, listen before you do anything. Frisk is a HUMAN, little girl or not her soul has a power to manipulate TIME itself, the raw energy from her soul it could be affecting you, she did theorize that her power is leaking into you, we have NO idea what kind of effect that will have on you."_

As the pair walked Sans looked over to 'Frisk' and couldn't help but wonder on one thing.

"Why would it be affecting me now? How many lives have I lived through with her-"

" _You're forgetting something; you can remember… your mind recalls the events of past timelines, so your soul is still carrying whatever amount of power that slipped into you and if not power than whatever effect that comes from being exposed to her is still present in your… soul…"_

He noticed her hesitation and that bothered Sans.

"What is it?"

" _The voice…"_

He knew almost immediately where this line of thought was going and shot it down before it could be properly formed.

"That's not possible, in fact, your entire idea is flawed."

" _Elaborate."_

"I haven't been exposed to any resets again since judgement hall, remember what she wrote, her power is, broken, damaged…"

No reply.

"There has to be something else, something that-"

This time his own mental hesitation caught the attention of his mind's construct.

" _What?"_

He looked back to Frisk.

"It, could really be her…"

" _Explain…"_

He didn't really want to but, he needed to, just to make certain his own thoughts weren't running away from him.

"Chara, could have done something to her, she could have, left something behind in her."

" _Something like?"_

"Some of her energy, What do we really know of Chara?"

" _Less than we should… but she seems to have a very capable link with Frisk and a unnerving connection to the void."_

"Exactly, a connection to the void, somehow she drew on it while she healed from the negativity from me and… Frisk."

Sans felt, VERY guilty now, he was the main reason that Chara was able to return, he drove Frisk over the edge to call to her in the first place, and his white hot rage must've been an ocean to feed from for that damnable spirit.

" _Sans… if Chara left something behind inside Frisk, why would it affect you?"_

To that question, the skeleton had no answer, but it was the only possible outcome that he could see that made sense.

Somehow Chara must've left a part of her behind inside Frisk's body and instead of affecting the human, it was affecting him, agitating his own soul and body.

"I hope, Frisk really is ok…"

" _Me too…"_

While Sans was concerned for her, Frisk, sobbed, trapped inside her own mind, sitting in a dark corner of consciousness, the walls of madness slowly closing in on her, all the while one thing kept her sane.

Knowing that Sans, although fooled by Chara, was still nearby.

That the comedic skeleton, was, not angry with her.


	33. Chapter 33 Connections

On their way to the capital something happened, something that neither Sans or Chara could have expected.

The skeleton, got sick.

And although she wanted to reach her 'Father', Chara decided that they wouldn't carry on until Sans was better, not only because she felt somewhat guilty about it happening but, she wanted him at his best when she tore his cold arcane heart out.

The pair took refuge inside an abandoned house, luckily there was still some food and other supplies, not to mention the taps allowed clean water to flow.

Sans was luckily not in too severe of a condition, he just, found it hard to move and had a nasty cough that didn't go away, not to mention the cold sweat.

Chara didn't understand, he was perfectly fine a day ago, so why did this happen?

Luckily for them both, this was something that Frisk was more than willing to lend her aid to, not for Chara's wellbeing, but that of Sans, so in the end he would be able to find out the truth about her captor.

But in the end, there was little that could be done, Sans, was keeping one VERY important piece of information from his companion, hiding it to the best of his ability.

While Chara wasn't with him, the skeleton looked at his boney hand in fear.

His worries were confirmed.

He saw the reason for the sudden sickness and, couldn't believe it.

From the center crack in his hand, a nearly invisible crack line had formed, headed straight to his wrist joint, there was no dull glow from it, or so he thought.

When Sans tried to focus on healing himself, he felt it, another tiny crack, branching away from the main center, as it did, it started to glow as well.

His fears were justified.

His own powers, they would be the cause of his demise.

No…

They already are.

Chara may have been a danger to him, she may have wanted to kill him, but unless she caught frisk right now and took over again, his own soul would be the cause of his life ending long before she ever returned.

Whatever initial reason there was for his condition didn't matter anymore, he was beyond that already.

" _Sans…"_

"I know, just… Just…"

He didn't have anything to say to his mental construct, he knew that it was all pointless, he was gifted with the chance to see Frisk as herself again, and that, was enough for him.

Or so he thought.

'Frisk' came running into the room holding a glass filled with a dark red fluid, it looked very much like blood but, something was different about it.

"Sans, Drink."

"Huh?"

She told him no, she ORDERED him to drink the fluid.

"Heh, kid, there's"

Her following actions, startled him, with a frightening speed she pulled a knife out on him and held it right over his eye socket.

"Sans… **DRINK** …"

This, was very unlike Frisk but Sans knew that there were moments where she was, dedicated and willing to do nearly anything.

Proof of that was in this timeline itself.

"Alright."

He slowly drank the fluid and felt, awful, his body felt like it was becoming, foul, he wanted to scream in pain but his body was too wracked in agony to allow a single noise to escape from him.

Until, eventually, it passed, Sans collapsed, completely unconscious.

…

Frisk waited for what felt like hours, this was something the she and Chara had come up with together, but they had no idea how long it would be till the effects would take hold.

" _Chara?"_

"Just wait."

…

" _Chara…"_

"I Said Wait."

…

" _CHARA!"_

"Listen Frisk, silence yourself now or else. This will work…"

It wasn't long till their actions bore fruit, Sans gasped for air but still remained unconscious, when he did Chara could feel something was different about herself.

Her connection to the void, a safe place of suffering that she could return to if something was to happen to her host, it seemed, strained somehow, at least for a little while.

" _Did it work?"_

"Let's see…"

Chara placed her hand over Sans's ribcage and carefully raised it.

As she did, the same streams of darkness that surrounded Frisk before when she accepted Chara back seeped out through his bones.

"It worked…"

" _Great, now you're sure that he will recover?"_

"Yes, whatever happened to him, it will be gone. Sans will be back to his best in a few days."

" _A few Days?"_

"Yes, he has a small connection to the void now, his body will draw on it to restore itself."

Frisk didn't like this, but because Sans was still alive he would be able to recover without needing something negative to feed from, and besides, maybe this, would help him when the time came.

" _This connection he has now, how long will this last? Forever?"_

Chara giggled a bit before replying.

"Unless your blood has some way of persisting for eternity, no, it should fade away in a few days, two weeks at best…"

" _Alright."_

Hopefully, that will be all the time they would need, all the time HE would need to find out the truth and end this farce.

While Chara watched over the slumbering skeleton something else happened, something that was made far worse by Sans's new found connection to the end.

The cracks on his hand, it worsened, several more spread out from the center, forming an intricate system of crack lines.

They may have found a temporary cure to whatever sickness afflicted the skeleton but they did far more damage to him in ways that they would never have imagined.

Damage, that could serve to be, something more.

Far from Chara and Sans, a mighty king saw his companion fall to his knees in a sudden jolt of pain.

"What is it old friend?"

"Something, happened, I can feel it, she, she has done, something to him."

"I thought she wanted me."

"She does, this, I, don't believe that this was, an attempt, on his life…"

"Than what was it?"

"I, Do not know."


	34. Chapter 34 Hollow

Morning, was a nightmarish event.

Sans awoke with a fright and nearly delivered a Gaster Blaster salvo straight into the forehead of his companion, she was barely able to dodge it in time.

"SANS!"

He came to his senses when she screamed his name, the skeleton felt terrible for what he did but a pounding migraine grabbed his attention first.

He gripped the sides of his skull in pain

The suffering was short at least, it faded away quickly leaving a comedic skeleton behind.

Chara was quick to join him and make certain that there wasn't any lasting ill side effects and luckily, there weren't, she saw the cracks on his hand but mistook them for damage from the trauma of having a temporary link to the void being formed, wounds that would heal quickly.

"Sans, how do you feel?"

He didn't have the words to reply as she wrapped his cracked hand closed.

"Ugh, strange, hollow, like something's missing, but, stronger than before, kid what did you do to me?"

She only smiled and told him not to worry about it.

"Can you move?"

She felt pretty stupid asking that question, he had jumped out of the bed and nearly did precision brain removal surgery on her, but Chara needed to make sure that Sans was able to move freely without being startled into action.

He tried to move and, was easily able to, with no pain or denial from his body.

"Good, its working, come on, we'll take it easy for the next few days so you can recover."

….

"Kid, what did you do to me?"

She looked at him straight into his eye sockets.

"Just, call it a my cure all and leave it at that okay Sans?"

"Frisk…"

Sighing in defeat Chara decided to answer him, to an extent.

"I, opened something up within you, that's why your feeling 'hollow', the sensation will pass soon enough, just, be careful with using your powers till it is okay?"

He didn't really understand why she said that but Chara knew something that he didn't, something that she didn't account for.

When he summoned his Gaster Blaster she saw the strands of darkness coming from its eye sockets like thin trails of smoke before she felt the familiar, nothingness of the void inside the energy beam that was fired at her.

There were very few things that could bring Chara harm directly, one of them was the void itself, another was beings that inhabited the void for a long time such as herself, while the last, was energy from the void itself, the same energy she fed on to survive.

She didn't know why but there was definitely traces of the void inside the attack that Sans had delivered.

He was dangerous now, before he would have only succeeded in murdering Frisk, but now, it seemed like he had what he needed to cause her harm as well.

" _What's the matter Chara? Feeling something that you've forgotten? I'll tell you what it is you're feeling, it's fear Chara…"_

Frisk's taunt was rewarded with more 'disciplining' but in the end, she had really hit a nerve in Chara.

She wondered if it was really a good move to carry on now, if they reached the king and finished him before Sans's connection was gone than, she could be in for some serious harm.

Being killed was one thing, but when a soul was destroyed instead of fading, that, was another hell entirely.

"Sans, how's the cough?"

He realized only now that the cough wasn't there anymore, no cold sweat, nothing.

It was like he was perfectly healthy again but the feeling inside Sans, was one that shouted to him over and over in the most primal of languages, one that any being could understand, there was something definitely not right about him anymore.

"Kid, is it alright if we stay here for the day?"

"Yes, I was going to suggest that anyway, need to make sure that there isn't going to be any nasty side effects from the treatment I gave you."

Sans was glad that she was willing to put her need to apologize to the king aside for him, this was still something that he was unsure about, something however did worry him more when he thought back.

There was a certain bitter sweet taste to the fluid he drank, one that, bothered him a lot.

Sans tried to ignore it, this was Frisk after all that had treated him, she wouldn't do anything without reason and wasn't going to poison him or put him in danger willingly.

" _Sans, what happened? Your body feels-"_

He finished the sentence of his mental construct without ushering a single word.

"Hollow, I know, but I don't know why."

" _It has to be something that she did, and your hand, its, worsened."_

He didn't really look at the cracks on his hand, Sans waited till Frisk was gone before looking at the cracks, what he saw, shocked him.

The cracks had gotten even worse when he summoned up that blaster, forming a rough circle from the network of cracks that had spread out from the center, he gently pressed against the center of the cracks and almost passed out from massive jolts of pain and suffering.

" _SANS! Are you-"_

"I, I'm fine…"

" _Damn it Sans, what the heck did you go and do that for?"_

"I, I don't know."

He heard a very frustrated sight come from his mind and chuckled.

" _What's so funny bonehead?"_

"He-he, sorry kid, let's, not do that again huh?"

" _No kidding…"_

The skeleton decided to sit down on the bed and redo the wrapping around his boney hand, luckily it was just in time as his companion walked back in with something for him to drink and eat.

"Slowly Sans, your body might still need some time to adjust."

he knew the routine already, luckily, and the food was still really good.

"Thanks kid."

"Sure thing, hay I have to go, if you need anything call me alright."

He was unsure as to where she would need to go but Sans decided not to pry, just now she needed to use the restroom, what an awkward conversation that would have been.

Chara did however need to do something, and that was step outside to think for a moment.

It was bugging her that Sans's new formed connection, one that would fade in a few days, allowed him to, knowingly or not, bring a part of the void out with his attacks, like he was drawing on it to fuel them.

That was not supposed to happen.

Why would it happen?

How could it happen? His body didn't have such a potent connection to the void, how could it have one? She formed her connection to the void out of necessity but her prolonged exposure strengthened it to the point it was now, so why would that comedic skeleton who has only had a connection to the void for less than a day have one strong enough to use it as a fuel for his powers?

She was on the verge of tearing her hair out of frustration but Frisk spoke up first.

" _What's the matter Chara? Something wrong?"_

"Frisk, silence yourself, now."

" _I don't think so, you can't win Chara, yes we saved his life from whatever it was that made him sick, but you, ha, you signed your own death warrant by following through with OUR idea."_

She realized now, Frisk must've done something.

"You knew…"

" _Knew what?"_

"You knew this would happen…"

" _Actually no, I didn't, I had wondered if something like could happen, after all, we used MY blood as a catalyst for YOUR powers, there was the chance that parts of, well, YOU, would have made this link so powerful, well done, trying to make sure sans was at his best for your sick plan ended up making sure he could kill you."_

Chara started to smile again, the wide smile that came to her so naturally.

"You're right, now the comedian can kill me, now he can REALLY hurt me…"

Frisk did not like the way Chara reacted when she touched the scar on her cheek, left behind by sans.

It was like she was in pure ecstasy over the thought of having Sans hurt not just Frisk, but her as well.

"We did great, partner…."


	35. Chapter 35 Shadowed Truths

So many voices, calling him all over, again and again, maddening and unending.

" _Sans!"_

The skeleton was surrounded by the haunting memories of his friends and family, he was already down on his knees trying to keep them out of his head.

He saw them Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Toriel, so many others, and amongst them, stood Frisk, her lips never parting to usher a single word.

He tried to call to her, but his voice was gone, no sound came from him as he was forced to endure the cries from those around him.

Time was a lost concept to the comedian as he suffered from the nightmarish moment, his salvation came when Frisk walked to him.

They all faded away, leaving behind piles of dust surrounding them both.

"Sans."

She smiled as she placed her hand gently on his cheek bone, raising him up to his feet slowly.

Sans was glad to be with Frisk again, but when she took his hand in her own, his body screamed in pain.

Frisk's smile vanished, replaced by a sneer as the hand she had at his cheek bone moved, she lodged her thumb into his eye socket and gripped tightly, all the while his hand couldn't part from hers.

It last little more than a moment, before she released.

He collapsed, falling onto his back without the ability to get back up, as he fell, Sans saw his hand.

Riddled with cracks, a sickening grey smoke seeping through the wounds and he could feel it, he didn't need to see, his eye socket, suffered similar harm.

Finding his voice, he could only ask her one thing.

"F, Frisk, Why?"

Her eyes had something in them, having her give him a stare that snapped him in half.

"You, killed me, over and over, you hurt me in ways that…"

He saw her falter for a moment and look away but she quickly looked back at him.

"You forced me over the edge, and now, you commit yourself, to something we both know will be my end."

…

Sans knew that, he knew that even if he tried his best, Asgore wouldn't let her go.

"So Sans what will it be?"

She flicked her hand to a side, revealing Asgore himself.

"Will you let him take me? Or will you take him?"

…

He had no answer and that angered frisk further.

"I thought so."

She brought something to Sans's attention, something he was familiar with.

A razor sharp knife.

"You sicken me."

She forced the knife straight through his cold beating heart, all sans could do was watch as his life was slowly ended, yet as he looked at frisk in horror, she too faded to dust, and from her remains rose up a shadowy figure, a body covered with smoke and shadow but the one thing he could see, was a pair of crimson red eyes looking at him.

"Trouble, partner?"

A rosy cheeked smile formed on the figure's face.

The stranger came closer and kneeled in front of him, placing its hand on the knife in his chest.

"You want some help hmm?"

He couldn't reply, the figure, ripped the knife out and forced it straight into his damaged eye socket.

Sans shot up, he was covered in a cold sweat, yet he was icy, it took him a moment to come to his senses.

While he eased his breathing something caught his attention.

He wasn't in the house that he and 'Frisk' found refuge in, this house, it was, different, familiar.

It was Frisk's apartment.

As he looked around his attention was caught by a scent, one unique and overwhelmingly familiar.

It was the scent from the flower in the 'sweet spot.'

He spotted it, the flower, resting in a glass vase at his side.

Sans was about to take the flower but froze, he felt something gently take hold of his arm.

Turning to see what it was, Sans was, confused and afraid.

"What's the matter… partner?"

Sans woke up, this time for real, he recognized the surroundings immediately and almost grabbing Frisk's throat as she headed to him.

"Frisk? What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare Sans."

Sans felt relieved yet, there was a lingering sensation, like he was missing something.

They both sat in silence for several minutes, until Chara gave him a hug.

"Sans? What did you dream about?"

The skeleton caught his own breath with that question.

"It, it was nothing kid."

"You were calling my name, what happened Sans?"

That was a first, Sans had never spoke in his sleep, not even when he was having nightmares, but, something about this nightmare was, different, maybe he really did call to her.

"I, don't want to talk about it okay Frisk?"

This, was an annoyance to Chara, something happened to him that she didn't expect but she couldn't confirm her suspicions if he refused to tell her.

"Alright, how do you feel?"

Sans took a moment to make sure he was alright before telling her so.

"Good, I'll have breakfast ready soon than we can go."

She got up and started to walk away but sans grabbed her arm.

She saw the fear and concern in his expression.

"Sans? What's wrong?"

"Frisk, please, think about what you want to do alright? Asgore, he-"

Sans froze up, he couldn't finish his own sentence, that nightmare really shook him up.

Chara enjoyed seeing him like this, so, lost and distraught, she had to suppress a giggle as she enjoyed how he was reacting yet she had to play the concerned friend.

"Sans, it's alright-"

"Please."

She sighed before nodding her head.

"Alright, I'll, I'll think about it."

He let go, glad that she would at least think about what she was going to try and do.

But Chara had no intention of altering the plan.

She would need to work him a bit more to make sure that he would still go through with it but she was going to take him with her to Asgore.

She was going to use him.

She was going to take the life of the king…

And when he fell down in terror and disbelief.

She would enjoy bringing ruin to his frail body.

His connection to the void may be powerful.

Strong enough to offer him horrifying visions.

Visions of her alongside what he needed to end her…

But he was a monster with no idea of what he had gained.

"Foolish comedian." Stated Chara as she giggled quietly.

Far from Sans a lone, reborn scientist pondered a discovery that showed him paths that until now, were impossible to take.

" _What a, curious turn of events, I wonder what her intentions were, hmm, I may be able to use this, this truly is, an interesting timeline."_


	36. Chapter 36 Interference

Breakfast was rather quiet, Sans couldn't bring himself to say anything and Chara, she merely waited for the right moment.

Yet in the end her impatience won out.

"Sans."

"Yeah?"

"I, I've thought about what you said."

"And?"

She saw such hope and fear in his expression, Chara was glad she had become far more fluent in reading skeleton's faces, thanks to frisk's 'assistance'.

"I, I'm sorry, Sans, I can't turn back."

She reveled in seeing his sadness and pain, it was so hilarious for Chara to see how he felt defeated.

"Frisk-"

"No Sans, I, I need to do this, if, you can't come with me than, than I understand, please stay here till I'm back okay?"

She got up and was about to leave the room but Sans stopped her.

"Frisk, if, if you really think this is the right thing to do, than I'll, I'll come with you."

Frisk screamed at him, telling him no, pleading him to stay away…

But her cries were unheard.

Only Chara could enjoy Frisk's voice, and enjoy, she did.

"Get what you need and sans please, if you feel anything, don't hesitate to tell me alright."

He nodded and was surprised when she passed his hoody to him.

"There you go."

The skeleton was slightly confused but saw her put on a conveniently sized jacket, she must've found it when she was looking around.

"Don't want you to get sick again right?"

Sans was quick to put on the hoodie, it felt, really good to have it back on.

"I'll wait for you."

He laughed before joining her.

"Let's go kid."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I got you, I have all I need."

She smiled but not for the reasons that Sans thought.

Chara found it hilarious, here Sans was, a skeleton that gave her the most trouble of all, now with the power to kill her yet he mistook her for his oh so precious Frisk, maybe this was irony, his supposed loved one was merely his future killer.

She didn't ponder that any further, they needed to get moving before things got-

They both stopped.

Something was, off.

A change in the air.

The slightest of differences, easily ignored or completely overlooked by the inexperienced.

"Come out."

Sans summoned up a pair of Gaster Blasters and kept up a good front as he refused to acknowledge the pain in his hand.

Luckily the figure revealed itself before the pain became worse.

A very stylish, almost practiced butler-like posture and suit.

Grillby stood in front of the pair.

"Grill's, man you almost gave me a heart attack."

He didn't reply, instead the living flame merely watched them.

"Grillby, what's the matter?"

He remembered the pair of blasters and was about to let them fade away but Chara stopped him.

"Sans, don't let them go, just yet."

"What are you talking about kid?"

To answer his question Sans saw Grillby loosen some of his clothing and reach behind him, the fire had left the holster on his back since the day Frisk first started to murder monsters left and right.

He pulled out the sword, they all heard the metallic sliding echo out and that, unnerved Sans.

"Grillby, put it down, please man."

"Sans, get away from that human, now."

Looking at Frisk he remembered once more that no one in the underground aside from him knew that she was 'free', Frisk couldn't be left alone to explain her actions.

"Grill, listen-"

No talk, the flame acted first.

Sprinting forward he slammed the skeleton out of the way with the hilt of his sword, knocking sans out before trying to swipe at the human.

A loud metal on metal clang came after, Chara licked her lips ever so slightly as she held a knife against the sword with ease.

"You won't have him."

She overpowered him and tried to swipe at him but the flame backed off in time.

She giggled before saying that it was too late.

"Sans, is already mine…"

"Don't be so sure, brat."

She looked over to Sans in surprise and saw Kain.

The monster grabbed hold of the unconscious Sans and was about to sprint off but Chara got in his way and tried to force the knife through Kain's throat.

Grillby interfered slapping the knife away with his own blade.

"Kain, Go."

The monster knew what Grillby was really trying to say.

"Don't you be that stupid alright, we've already lost Alphys and so many others…"

No reply, not that there was going to be one, Kain sprinted off and Chara tried to chase but Grillby got in her way.

"WE still have something to finish, brat."

Chara laughed at that.

"Alright, at least this is a little stress reliever before I get the comedian back."

Grillby didn't reply, instead he merely removed any clothing that would restrict his movements.

"Oo, am I supposed to feel honored?"

Despite what he was, the flame made a motion that brought forth a sound very much similar to the popping of knuckles.

"Very well, but first, Flame, here's a little secret, not that you will be able to put it to any use, Sans is with me willingly, because he thinks I'm someone that I'm not, does the name Frisk mean anything to you? No? well here's a little something, you see, Frisk could turn back time, he remembers her, he remembers this body, but I came only recently, in this timeline, she was sooo innocent in her intent, but I ruined her plans, now, I'm enjoying torturing her and playing with her loved one."

Grillby's flames changed color for a moment, his anger was surfacing, changing the usual orange to an intense white for but a moment.

"My name is Chara by the way, pleased to make your acquaintance, now, it's time you left."

She attacked him, no reason to hold back and an enemy in front of her, made Chara quite a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

Her small knife allowed her much more freedom of motion, she was able to easily adapt her positions to counter act whatever Grillby used against her.

She was too quick.

Her strikes too precise.

Her motions too practiced.

She was just too natural and deadly a killer to be stopped by Grillby for long.

They played around for a few minutes, the flame knew after the first two strikes that he was only alive because she was playing with him, she wanted to let off some steam.

One cut, one slice, a stab here, a puncture there.

Chara was taking her time, slowly causing him suffering, and agony, even the flame Grillby could be wounded, it just took, a well-practiced hand to find out how.

She wasn't going to kill him outright, no, she was going to take him down little by little.

Unfortunately for Chara, it felt far too soon when he finally collapsed to his knees.

"Come now Flame, you cannot fall now, please, stand up, give me more, I want more pain."

He looked at her in disbelief, more so when she used the knife to cut into her own flesh, right next to her eye, she slid down sloooooowwwly, bringing it down her cheek before sliding it to a side and cutting straight to her mouth, nicking her lower lip slightly as she did.

"What kind of abomination are you?"

"I am your reckoning, your nightmare, I am the FIRST to fall down here, and I will be the one to END you all."

She seemed to be enjoy the taste of her own blood, and that, coupled with the knowledge she gave him, brought chills.

"here's something else for you to know, you, were one of the people responsible for getting Frisk and Sans together, YOU paired them first, and YOU are responsible for his foolish willingness to let me trick him so easily."

She smiled and placed her hand on his scorching cheek.

"Thank you, if you had lips, I'd kiss you, too bad."

"You'll, never get him back, demon."

"Don't be so certain."

She giggled before ending Grillby's life, staring down the flame as he faded away.


	37. Chapter 37 Dark Facts

"Sans."

Sluggish moans from a slow to wake skeleton was the reply.

"Sans, wake up."

The comedic skeleton started to stir.

But his hopes of waking to Frisk, were quickly crushed when he saw Kain and Gaster.

"It's good to see you're alright, that brat didn't do anything to severe to-"

Gaster merely gave Kain a look, no words were ushered but a clear order was sent.

He left them alone.

Neither of them said a single word, but as Sans glanced over his surroundings to realize his situation Gaster could read hundreds of thousands of signs coming from his grandson.

"No, She, isn't here, and it is for the best."

"You don't know what's for the best Gaster…"

No smile from the returned scientist, he merely gave Sans a emotionless look.

"You really believe with all your soul that, THAT human is Frisk don't you?"

"Of course."

…

"What happened to you Sans? I've watched you through many timelines but never, NEVER have you been as foolish as you are NOW!"

Gaster's angered tone of voice disturbed Sans on varying levels.

It felt like hearing Frisk say that she was disappointed in him.

Gaster took a moment to calm down and recollect his composure.

"Listen Sans, I will ONLY say this ONCE, you are being fooled, CHARA NEVER LEFT, If you want proof than look at your hand."

Their attention shifted to Sans's crack riddled hand.

"We BOTH know what kind of wound that is, and we both know that VERY few things can cause that."

He didn't reply to Gaster.

"I'm sorry Sans but until you can accept the fact that Chara is still inside Frisk, I can't let you leave here ."

Gaster turned to leave Sans but stopped when he was called.

"Gaster, why can't you accept that Chara isn't in Frisk anymore?"

"Sans, You feel it don't you? The hollow sensation inside you, like a part of you is missing?"

He didn't reply, not that it mattered, Gaster knew the truth.

"I've watched you and Frisk for a very long time, and despite all the mistakes Frisk made, she could never, NEVER expose your soul to the void, she doesn't have the connection to the void to do so, in fact, the only beings that do, is me, and CHARA, well, and you too…"

It clicked, like a gear falling into a place, a signal sent to switch on a machine, Sans couldn't deny it, it made sense now.

The 'treatment' he received.

"I am sorry Sans, but the evidence is clear, I am not foolish enough to harbor hatred to the human for actions that she had no control over but there is simply no way to free-"

"There is."

Gaster remembered and chuckled.

"No, You're mistaken."

"Why? It worked last time-"

"Your Gaster Blaster didn't force Chara out, she was constantly fighting for superiority as she fought you, in the end, she was merely worn out, your attack only pushed her over the edge, and it doesn't matter, any attempt to use your power will only worsen your condition."

Sans knew that it was true, any attempt to use his powers in this condition would only further the damage, like tearing a barely healed muscle apart with intense exercise.

"What will you do?"

"Whatever I can to ensure that Chara is gone, even if it means ending Frisk's life to-"

He couldn't finish his sentence before Sans reacted.

The comedic skeleton pushed the thoughts of harming himself into the darkest recess of his mind as he summoned up a pair of Gaster Blasters.

"Try it."

Gaster had to admit that Sans's sudden actions were commendable, despite being foolish, it took only a second with both Blasters fully charged to bring sans to his knees, the cracks on his hand started to spread up his arm, but as they spread Gaster did notice something about the blasters.

They had crack lines coming from their eye sockets, spread out to their mouths where very large spheres of energy waited to be expelled in lethal beams of devastation.

These, wounded blasters, would, in theory, be able to destroy Chara entirely.

Unfortunately for further experimentation they faded away before Gaster could attempt any sort of test on them, fortunately it save Sans's life, while the scientist was examining the blasters the cracks spread at a ridiculous rate, they had traveled all the way up his arms, onto the ribcage and finally stopping, right where Sans's soul once rose from, that spot seemed, protected somehow.

…

Gaster was torn at the sight before him.

The scientist in him was absolutely giddy with excitement, never before had an opportunity presented itself to examine a monster suffering from what is quite literally, a soul slowly being eroded, degraded until the eventual outcome of, complete destruction, the scientific breakthroughs from researching Sans's condition both physical and beyond could prove to invaluable, and could possibly hold the answer for maintaining a soul after its supposed demise without the need of DETERMINATION.

But the grandfather in Gaster, was disgusted, horrified and most of all, afraid.

This was Sans, his Grandson, his ONLY remaining Grandson, he wanted him to live, to be happy, not to suffer with this condition until finally he suffered a fate far worse than mere death.

When a soul fades, it is one thing, but when a soul is destroyed, that is a nightmare of unfathomable proportions, the kind that he would never wish upon even his most hated enemy.

In the end, his parental instincts won out, Gaster did all he could to try and help Sans with the pain, there was nothing that they could do to reverse the damage, but there were things that they could attempt to slow the degradation.

When sans was treated and asleep Gaster, completely lost his composure, after he left the room he punched the wall with all his might, the pain served to remind him, he was alive and he needed to do everything he could for Sans and the mere handful left.

Chara must've had some plan to abuse Sans for her own personal gain, she would have likely thrown him to the wind when he outlived his usefulness, and now that he was free from her, she would most likely not hesitate to end him, in her eyes he would have discovered the truth, he would recover his hatred for her and she must know of the devastating potential of his powers now that it was tainted with the void, whatever her intentions were originally with tainting him would now only prove to be a danger for her, one that she would remove.

Gaster despised this, this feeling, he was so useless, he wanted to help sans, help him with his condition, help him see the truth about Chara, and he wanted to help Frisk, he watched them for so long and they really did make a great match, but, there was really no way to tear Chara out without killing the vessel she hides in.

To free Frisk, he'd need to kill her, and Sans would never forgive him for doing that.

"There has to be another way, there always is…"

While Gaster tried and frustratingly failed to search for alternatives to save Frisk without ending her, Chara enjoyed the somewhat silent walk to the capital, her host was, unable to stay quiet, to say the least and although it proved to be an interesting conversation, it annoyed Chara that Frisk was to passionate now, especially after she saw how Grillby was killed.

" _Come on Chara, we both know you can't win, Sans WILL know the truth when you reach him and he WILL kill you."_

She sighed in frustration.

"Alright, how about a little wager hmm? We both know the comedian will know the truth by the time we reach him, I don't think he will be able to even lay a finger on me, if I'm right, you will remain quiet unless I speak to you."

" _What do I get if I'm right?"_

"Ha-ha, well if you are right than Sans will kill me, kill you, so you will finally be able to rest in piece, I won't ever bother you again."

Frisk fell silent as she contemplated that, she had somewhat forgotten that the end of Chara, meant the end of her.


	38. Chapter 38 Unwelcome Desperation

How long has it been? Hours? Days? Sans had lost track of the passage of time, this room he woke up in, the one Gaster took him to, it was strange, in this, dark 'box' Sans found it hard to focus on his powers, it didn't make much sense to the comedic skeleton, but, his thoughts were hazy, like he was drunk.

One thought however was clear to him, through the fog of his mind, shining brightly.

Gaster, was going to do something, something that he needed to try and stop.

…

If only his body didn't denied him any hope of moving.

As Sans tried to form his thoughts fully and move with little success Gaster became very angered, to the point where Kain had to dive to a side when the ingenuous monster decided to finally vent his frustrations in a random direction.

A very large Gaster Blaster beam nearly obliterated the poor mummy.

"Okay, Gaster I know you're angry but, trying to kill me won't help."

The outburst seemed to calm the scientist, at least for a moment before he brought the blaster back.

"hmm, perhaps…."

Kain had seen this before, and knew that Gaster suddenly showing interest in something after venting his frustrations in a, chaotic manner, would lead to either a grand discovery, or a nightmarish mistake.

The last time it happened, Gaster lost his life….

"Hay, Gaster, I think you should take a moment to re-"

…

His words weren't reaching Wing Dings…

Kain decided to rather not do something that could cause some harm for his wellbeing, instead he walked over to the throne room.

Asgore Dreemurr, king of monsters, and one of the most powerful monsters of all, stood watching through a window, Kain walked up next to him.

"Kain…"

"Asgore…"

There was no need for formality when there were only a handful of monsters left alive.

"How's he doing?"

…

Kain sighed before answering his king.

"Gaster is, losing it…"

"I was worried about that…"

"Yeah, I still don't understand why he locked sans in that room…."

"He wouldn't want him to be caught in the middle of the coming battle."

"That's, that's not it."

Asgore looked over to Kain curiously.

"Sans, when I was bringing him back, I saw, cracks on his hand, something happened to him, something that has Gaster nervous and afraid, I haven't seen him this, unstable since THAT, happened…"

"That bad?"

"Asgore, I, I think… there is nothing really keeping him from using his, curse, if she pushes him to the brink, we won't be able to escape in time."

Asgore didn't enjoy the sound of that and, knew that it was more than likely, if the human tried get to Sans Gaster might just use, that, to keep her from him.

"What about Sans?"

"When I looked up on him, he didn't even know I was there, I, I don't know, something happened though because his wound wasn't so severe when I grabbed him."

"I see…"

They both kept standing there in silence for a few more minutes.

"I, I'm going to scout out, see if the human is nearby."

"Kain, what about-"

"If he was still alive than he'd be back, Grillby is gone…"

"I, see."

With that said, Kain left the king behind, he passed by Wing Dings and saw he was busy experimenting with a blaster he summoned up, it was, strange to see the monster in his element, Gaster wasn't solely scientific, sure he took notes and theorized and all that, but he had a VERY hands on approach with everything he did.

Something that Kain found out very quickly of Gaster was that he much preferred to work in a field, practically test his ideas, even he seemed FAR more impressed when he achieved a failure than if whatever he was attempting worked out like planned, a slight indulgence that he could hardly enjoy as he learnt more and more.

But seeing him like this, he was absolutely giddy again, he must be trying to construct new theories and plans on the fly as he ran his tests with the blaster, his actions were little different than someone lost in a pitch black cave, placing lights everywhere to illuminate the interior.

Kain had to wonder how long it would be before the genius had discovered something relevant, seconds or hours? Who knew? Wing Dings was in a very unpredictable state of mind now.

The old mummy chuckled slightly, at least they had the most dangerous genius on their side, that may not sound like much but well, he would prove to be an unpredictable nightmare equal to their enemy.

…

Kain felt his heart freeze up for a moment as he looked outside.

He could have sworn he saw her, standing in the archway, balancing a knife on her one finger, with the blade side touching her skin, all the while smiling at him.

It was only for a split second but, her could have sworn.

Turning to ask Gaster to come with him he remembered that Wing Dings won't pay him any attention.

In the end he decided to investigate it on his own.

It didn't take long for him to reach the spot where he saw her, and, he felt it, the air itself was, different.

Kain knew this sensation, this, pressure, the chill.

He pulled out his sword and held it ready as he started to look around.

There was a definite feeling of killing intent in the air, no anger, very little emotion at all, just, the intent.

This sensation was, unnerving but Kain needed to make certain it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him.

Keeping his breathing steady Kain observed every little nook and cranny, careful to not just glance over something.

He saw a shadow slip by him for a split second, that was enough proof for Kain that he wasn't alone.

Sprinting forward he slashed at the place where this, mystery stranger was supposed to be, yet he only severed air.

He was confused, so certain Kain was that he saw the shadow, that this was where it headed.

"looking for something?"

Spinning around and swiping in defence, Kain only parted howling wind, but there was NO way that he could have mistaken this.

The enemy was here.

"What's the matter?"

He heard her voice coming from a distant pillar yet when he sprinted to it to end her, she wasn't there.

"It's not very polite to ignore me…"

The voice was right next to his ear but before he could react Kain's legs were grabbed and pulled out from under him, he slammed face first into the stone surface, it took him a split second to get back to his feet but, she wasn't there.

"Show yourself Brat."

Her laughter came from the entrance, and, when he turned around to face her, she didn't move.

Chara stood there, a wide rosy cheek smile spread across her face.

Something was off though, she wasn't gone, she was waiting, it was obvious she could run circles around Kain and he wouldn't even notice it, he needed to stay calm, stay focus-

"Catch."

She threw something at him, a sword, Grillby's sword, there was no doubt anymore… she killed him.

"Wing Dings, we must talk."

Gaster's attention shifted away from his blaster for a moment, giving the king some focus.

"Yes?"

"We-"

They both heard Kain scream in pain as he was flung straight to them, the mummy slammed straight into Asgore, forcing them both to the ground.

The mummy was riddled with wounds but, they weren't healing, he was, dying.

"Kain!?"

"The Flame put up more of a fight than you did, disappointing, he-he"

Chara looked at her defeated opponent and placed her knife against her lip, cutting it to allow the dark red blood free.

"So, where is the comedian?"


	39. Chapter 39 The Last Fight Part 1

"Hello Chara…"

"Ah, 'papa', how have you been?"

Her, no care attitude disturbed Asgore, Gaster had explained what happened, had explained who this, was, but now, as he looked at the face of his daughter, he knew that it was true, no amount of time would be able to make him forget that rosy cheek smile, those red eyes, her stance…

"Why?"

She looked at him with a mildly interested look as he got back to his feet, leaving Kain on the ground, still wounded but there was nothing he would be able to do, save for stall her.

"Why are you doing this?"

Her smile spread further, a feat that seemed impossible but she did it.

"Why not?"

No talking further, she sprinted forward, straight to Asgore laughing as she tried to take his life, the king expected this and was able to defend but it still hurt to see with his own eyes how she was more than willing to take him out.

"I enjoy this." Taunted Chara as she forced Asgore's trident to a side, allowing a spot to open for her to attack.

The king saw Chara's expression, joy, excitement, anticipation, she was going to love this.

But Chara's fun was halted, some, force, grabbed hold of her and flung her to a side, slamming her hard into a wall.

Getting back to her feet and shaking her head for a moment Chara looked over to Gaster, unsurprised to see his hand was glowing with a dull blue light.

"So it's true, I was curious if you really were a relative of Sans, now I know for certain, so which are you? Father?"

She offered him no time to reply as she sprinted forward, knife at the ready and enjoyment raising by the second.

Chara's attack was blocked by Asgore's trident and before she could move aside to take out the scientist she saw a very large blaster appear.

"Grandfather, Brat."

He fired, sending the energy beam straight to her, Chara could smell the void energy inside the beam, she moved away instantly and displayed her unnatural athletic ability by reaching the support pillars of the roof effortlessly.

They both saw a certain, hunger, and anger in her eyes, one that unsettled them both.

"So, you really CAN hurt me… well, let us see if you are quick enough, you might want to stay out of this, papa."

She winked at Asgore before changing the grip on her knife and heading straight to them.

Chara was fast, faster than her father, much, much faster, but Gaster, he was able to keep up with her, like he was little more than her shadow.

Yet, While Wing Dings had superior firepower at his disposal, Chara, had something else, he might have been able to keep up with her, but she was far more agile than he was, she seemed, nearly incapable of thinking about self-preservation Chara would almost run right against a Gaster Blaster beam she sidestepped or leaped away from, nearly allowing the energy to scrape her flesh off, but it seemed to be working in her favor, being so close to the beam often made sure that Asgore wouldn't be able to get close.

And she got lucky, close enough so that when Gaster summoned another blaster she could quite literally kick the side of its jaw with enough force, making it shift position moments before it fired, slamming the beam straight into Gaster's chest.

The construct faded as Wing Dings flew back.

The scientist slammed hard into a wall and fell down to his hands and knees.

"Enjoy that feeling Gaster, revel in it, it will be all that comforts you for the rest of eternity."

The scientist got to his feet and, merely breathed out, like releasing his breath would relieve him of the pain he felt in his chest.

"So, you have some, tricks too hmm?"

"Of course, I told you before, this timeline is, very interesting…"

Gaster took a moment to stretch again, somewhat to loosen his tight bones and somewhat to offer Asgore the time he needed to carry Kain away from the fight.

"Well than, shall we see if we can make it any more interesting?"

Chara giggled as she asked that question, as she did she brought the knife closer to her face, gently letting the cold metal slide across her cheek.

Wing Dings was, somewhat surprised when he saw her eyes change, bright red as they were before, but the white, was 'bled' out, replaced by pitch black, when it was done, strands of dark slid from her eyes like tears.

"A curious turn of events, am I supposed to be intimidated?"

The giggling continued.

"Oh my, no, you see, I just want to see how far I can really push Frisk's body, MY body before it begins to break."

That annoyed Gaster.

"You have no right-"

"-ha-ha, she let me back, no, she CALLED to me, I have every right, she gave me this body, and I will do with it, as I desire."

Gaster's anger returned, few things could tick off the scientist, one of them, was self-righteous, little brats that actively try to ruin the futures of his grandchildren, bragging about things that they stole from others.

And Chara was not only a self-righteous brat trying to ruin his grandchildren's futures, she stole Frisk right out from under Sans's nose.

Both eyes lit up, Gaster was going to kill her.

"Oo, trying to intimidate me? Or are you finally fighting me for real? Because if-"

No chance to finish her sentence, Gaster fired off barrages of attacks, far more powerful and well-coordinated than Sans had ever been capable of, but one CLEAR difference between Gaster's angered attacks and Sans's angered attacks, was the scientist, could 'cheat'.

The small time that he had to experiment, offered Gaster the power, to manipulate the energy beams from the Gaster Blasters, split them, merge them, move them to his will, Chara spent the better half of a minute trying to out-maneuver a thin spread of energy beams that chased her everywhere before finally dissipating.

…

This was a powerful and unfair advantage, but the level of control and exertion, was too taxing on Gaster, he learned as he used the power how to use it more efficiently but, even the genius he was, couldn't work fast enough, he over exerted himself and was brought to his knees, breathing heavily, completely defenseless.  
Chara took a moment to catch her breath before looking at the knife, as she did the dark strands that fell from her face headed to it, wrapping around it.

"You won't die from ordinary wounds like the others, just as me, no, I need something special for you."

Looking up Gaster saw the dark knife, and knew that, that would do it…

She giggled again and sprinted forward, intent of severing the scientist's head but she stopped as she heard something, sliding glass.  
Looking back to Asgore, Chara saw the human souls around him, impressive, he had managed to gather them without her knowing.

"So, 'papa', you are going to take me seriously hmm?"

"I'm sorry Chara…"

The souls rose up from their containers and circled Asgore, slowly being absorbed by him, the king felt, horrid, his being was being changed, in ways that were unnatural.

It was almost done, he was almost complete, the souls had almost been absorbed.

…

But it wasn't fast enough…

Asgore felt the souls slip out of him as cold steel entered his chest, entered, his heart.

Chara, stood in front of him, a smile on her face, and a bloody hand holding her knife, with the blade's edge, piercing his chest.

"I don't care… Oh, and say hi to 'mama' for me hmm?"

Her giggling slowly returned as she watched Asgore suffer, she stared down her own adoptive father as the life left his eyes and his body, turned to dust.

King Asgore Dreemurr was murdered, by his own daughter.


	40. Chapter 40 The Last Fight Part 2

Gaster watched the dust slowly fall, the human, no, the demon hiding herself in the body of an innocent human girl giggled as she flicked her blade to a side, the blood had started to change to dust as well and it would only serve to be a bother.

"Hmm, that was, disappointing…"

She giggled as she turned to look at scientist.

"At least, you put up more of a fight than he did."

Chara walked slowly toward Gaster, his previous exertions, still gripping him hard, the genius could do little more than glare at her.

And she enjoyed every second of it.

"Well now, Gaster, tell me, where is the comedian? Tell me, and I'll make sure that he won't have to suffer for long."

"Not, going to happen, we both know that even if I told you, you would still enjoy making him suffer."

Chara tilted her head to a side a little and smiled.

"Maybe, but we both know that, you won't be living through this."

Just as she was about to end him, Kain intervened, throwing her with the largest object he could find, which happened to be Asgore's trident.

"Back off…"

"Oh, I thought you had already passed on, what a welcome surprise."

"Gaster, take your time, I've got this…"

Kain ran straight to her, gripping his sword tightly and forcing her on the defensive.

It seemed like Kain was winning at first, he kept Chara on the defensive, but they all knew, she was only on the defensive because she wanted to goad him into thinking he had a chance, she wanted to play with him, and she was enjoying this opportunity.

More than that however Gaster saw something else.

Kain's wounds from earlier, still, they wouldn't heal, whatever Chara did to him, whatever method she used to bring harm to him, it left damage that couldn't be undone.

Something that even Gaster found hard to believe.

They carried on for what felt like hours but were in fact, mere minutes before Chara grew bored of being on the defensive, she decided to switch roles a little.

Almost effortlessly she slapped the blade away and cut a wide line across Kain's chest, her knife still covered with the darkness that came from her eyes, leaving small pieces of it behind like poison….

Or acid.

The tiny pieces of darkness ate into his flesh, dissolving it and the bandages that were there, she was using the void to kill him.

And it made sense, what the void touched, ceased to exist, the only thing capable of surviving the darkness, was spirit and soul, and even then, they are scarred.

Kain would simply be eaten away, little by little, until finally he was nothing, or until, even his body couldn't keep up with the nightmarish harm he was suffering.

He needed to do something.

" _Take your time."_

It slammed him like a wall.

Kain was stalling, he was just giving Gaster the time he needed to recover.

The Scientist immediately refocused his mind, allowing his body to recover much faster than before.

…

But Chara knew full well what was happening, and merely giggled as she jumped up over Kain, slicing his shoulder open.

"You think you can keep me occupied long enough? I don't think so."

Kain was too slow, she sliced his sword hand clean off and grabbed the blade as it fell, throwing it straight to Gaster in one fluid motion.

"NO!"

The scientist saw the blade in time and moved but the blade that would have cleanly inserted itself in his skull, instead slid into his shoulder joint, the force pushed him back, allowing the blade to still slide into the wall, pinning Gaster against it.

"How about you stay there hmm?"

Kain, angered at the loss of limb and very aware of his lack of weapon, backed off, only to have Chara sprint past him and kick his leg down, forcing him on his knees.

"Where are you going hmm?"

She neared Kain and with a smile, cut into his cheek.

"We aren't done yet."

Kain tried to deliver a punch at her but only succeeded, in having Chara cut his hand and arm open, two halves hanging away from each other.

"Not very nice, hitting a girl."

"Girl?"

He spat in her face, refusing to acknowledge her as a girl but that was rewarded with Chara, slowly, methodically removing one of his eyes.

When she had removed the organ she held it between her fingers and sighed.

"You know, we could have avoided that, so tell me, where is Sans?"

"I'll, never, tell."

She smiled before replying.

"I believe you, so you really do have no further use for me."

She dropped the eye, all interest lost, before gently placing her hand on his forehead.

"NO!"

Gaster's protest, came too late.

She pulled his head back to better expose his throat, allowing her to slice it open.

That, was the end for Kain.

His body started to fade away.

"No…"

Gaster found it hard to believe, Kain, gone, for good, the monster brought back, was dead.

"You, You-"

Chara smiled as she looked at the scientist she was truly loving this moment.

But as all good things, her fun came to an end.

Yet it came from an unlikely source.

A massive energy beam nearly impacted against Chara.

She was forced out of the way and was glad, the beam completely vaporized the wall that it hit, nearly no resistance was offered.

"So, you really are, still, in there?"

They both looked to where the beam and the voice came from.

Sans, the comedic skeleton, stood there, well, almost, he was leaning against the wall for support, he was weak, his body riddled with cracks, the skeleton, was falling apart, and the reason was clear, four massive Gaster Blasters surrounded him, the tax on him, must be fatal.

Chara looked at him in confusion.

"What, I don't understand."

"Stop trying to act dumb Chara…"

"No you fool, the treatment was supposed to cure you."

Sans coughed a bit but it was pretty clear that he was, smiling at her.

"It, did, but this, is something else."

She looked him, confused and, disappointed.

"This isn't how I wanted to face you comedian, I wanted a challenge."

He chuckled a bit.

"Bite me, brat…"

"Oh come now, is that really-"

She stopped midsentence, noticing something was, wrong….

"What's the matter Chara?"

She looked back up, seeing a silhouette of something that, wasn't supposed to be there.

Something, that disturbed her, deeply.

"Problems?"


	41. Chapter 41 The Last Fight Part 3

Chara kept her sights locked on Sans and the silhouette that persisted next to him.

"Gaster, can you move?"

"Barely…"

Sans sent a quick glance to his grandfather and sighed before looking back to the enemy.

"Sans, how? You weren't supposed to be able to move"

"I don't know, I heard Frisk calling to me and, I just got up, it's like she's with me right now."

"Sans-"

He didn't let Gaster finish, instead he turned to face Chara.

"I don't know how long I have until, im sent to the graveyard, so, how about, we kick it up to max and see, how really is, the best."

The shining light coming from the cracks riddling Sans's body and the fading of the silhouette hinted to something that Sans shouldn't have been able to do.

BOTH his eye sockets lit up, one a bright blue, while the other, the one he never brought to life in the presence of Frisk, glowed a dark purple.

"Frisk, I'm sorry."

" _It's alright Sans, now, finish this!"_

Chara bit her lip when she heard Frisk's thoughts, obviously they wouldn't reach Sans but, it was like he could feel her answer.

They all heard the cracks growing further as Sans's hands lit up.

"Stay out of this Gaster, this, was a long time coming…."

Despite the obvious wounds, Sans stood upright, no pained leaning on the wall for support, he stood completely upright and at the ready, his enemy could barely believe her eyes when he easily swung his hands at her, more than that, he kept the momentum fluid, passing it from one hand to another as he jumped into the air in front of him, doing a full turn as he did and landing back on his feet to deliver another swipe, with each one, he sent a nightmarish assault her way.

It was like Sans had fully recovered, he wasn't displaying any sort of pain or discomfort as he very athletically attacked her, sending everything he had at her.

The initial shock wore off quickly for Chara and she was overjoyed once more, perhaps he would prove to be a far more gratifying combatant than she had first assumed.

All the while Gaster could do nothing but watch his Grandson, he was easily keeping Chara at bay, not just because she wanted to stay on the defensive, she was actually incapable of forcing her way forward to attack him.

"Amazing, you impress me beyond belief comedian!"

"I'm just getting started, BRAT!"

Sans slammed his open pal onto the floor, as he did the purple light in his eye rushed out, fading quickly, but the effects were quickly evident.

The building that they were in, started to shake, growing more and more severe until finally the floor started to crack and break apart, sending Sans and Chara down several floors, Gaster, could hardly believe what he had just witnessed.

As Sans and Chara fell she noticed his, blissful glare, he was completely at peace with what he had just done.

"Is this what you're intending Comedian? Killing us both?!"

"Just you, Brat"

She didn't understand but felt it moments before the end arrived.

Chara pushed away from some falling debris, barely missing the Gaster Blaster beam that would have turned her host to vapor and ripped her apart.

Looking back to sans she saw him standing on the head of a falling Gaster Blaster, it was as crack riddled as he was but it was filled more with the all-consuming void's energy than his own power.

"Not bad Comedian, so, how far will we fall?"

"All the way to where the core draws its power.…"

She knew what he meant, they were going all the way down, all the way to the magma fields where the core drew the heat and turned it to energy, it was going to be a VERY long drop.

"But you won't be alive long enough to see that place."

Sans held an open palm to her, at his sides there were several of his blasters.

Chara gave him a sharp look before kicking off of a nearby piece of debris.

He moved out of the way easily and fired on her, Chara could barely move away in time.

They exchanged placed more than a few times before Chara started to realize something.

"You planned this comedian?"

"So you finally see it?"

She laughed before congratulating him.

"Getting rid of any place for me to run really evened out the playing field, a fair fight comedian."

"Not just that, even if I can't kill you, you won't be able to get out of here…."

She laughed, was he really that naïve?

"Don't be so quick to underestimate me comedian, don't you remember when we fought?"

Chara giggled as a very distinct dark, one that could be seen even in the pitch black shadow around them, it grew until finally, it shot out from her, embedding itself into the distant stone surrounding them, a net of darkness slowed Chara's descent to a standstill before spreading out further forming something very much like a spider's web.

Sans immediately thought of Muffet, she really had no chance against this, this nightmare.

"Neat trick…."

He was completely unimpressed by her display of unnatural powers.

Chara only giggled before looking at him and speaking.

"You put up a good fight comedian, but it is time I go now, enjoy this place, it will be your tomb…"

He didn't understand what she meant at first but, Chara vanished, no, she, melted, fused with the darkness itself, leaving behind the web of dark strands, when she was gone the web immediately started to contract, pulling the stone that Sans parted, back together.

In the end, Chara, was still ready for him and she used his own attack, to end him.

"CHARA!"

Gaster, assuming the battle had been won, sat down after rooming the sword pinning him into position.

He was, tired, not just from the fight, but from everything.

Yet, as he had begun to relax a bit he heard her voice.

"Hello Gaster."

He didn't have it in him to even face her, Sans had used everything, had tapped into more power than he thought was able to be contained by a single soul, monster or human and yet, he was still defeated, if he had won than she wouldn't have been here now.

"So, I win, everyone is gone and Frisk, is mine, what do you say Gaster?"

"I say, nothing, have at me Chara, I won't resist, you've taken everything from me, even my grandson…."

She giggled and walked straight to him, her knife ready to be used.

Yet as the end came for him, Sans intervened.

No warning, only action.

The remainder of the floor that wasn't destroyed by Sans's absurd attack was destroyed by a large wall of energy, Gaster was luckily far enough from the beam but Chara felt the beam and tiny bits of shrapnel that survived the first few seconds sear her back, exposing her all the way to the spine.

When the beam passed a Gaster Blaster rose from the hole, fading as Sans also rose up, standing on the head of the same one he stood on during the fall.

"Don't, be so quick to underestimate me, brat."

She could hardly believe it, how, was this possible!?

But that, seemed to be the peak of his potential, Sans's facial expressions changed, from a cocky, angry glare to a pained look.

Chara knew this was her best chance, she sprinted straight towards him, ignoring the pain from her scorched back.

He knife found its spot, but, something bothered her the moment it entered his body, no matter the state Sans was in, he should have put up some sort of a fight, even if it's a failed attempt at moving back, no, it was like….

Realization struck far too late.

He wanted her to do this.

And now that she was here, he could grab her tightly, and hold her.

Chara tried to struggle against Sans's grip but be had her locked tightly.

"I'm sorry Frisk, just, if u find me after this, than come say something, okay kid?"

His body started to shine again, with the last fraction of his power he summoned one last blaster, firing it straight at them both.

Sans and Chara, were engulfed in the energy from the blaster, neither of them could survive.

…

It was over, in mere moments it was over, Sans's and Frisk's bodies had been turned to little more than fine dust, and Chara's spirit was ripped apart, by the same power she fed on to survive for so long….

….

And now, as Gaster sat there, resting, the thought struck him, like a bone flung against his skull.

He was alone.

There was no one else, no monsters, nothing…

It was over

And he, was alone….

….

As gaster sat he noticed something, something coming into existence where his Grandson and Frisk once were moments before.

A single, wounded, Human soul, persisting, after its body had been destroyed….

….


	42. Chapter 42 Altered Past, Changed Future

_Just as all good things must come to an end, we all must awaken from nightmares at some point._

Pain, agonizing pain, that was all that awaited Frisk as she returned to the place she fell, sent back by her gift, it wasn't right, never before had this happened.

Mere moments of struggling and the lone human girl gave in, her will was broken quickly by the feelings that ripped through her, sensations that she had never before thought a person could live through.

The pain faded, only to be replaced by a feeling of dread.

Her body moved on its own, she had no control over it.

Why, why was this happening? She had reset time so many times before but never before had she gone through this-

Her thoughts were disturbed by a giggle, one that seemed so innocent but was laced with something that easily put her hair on end.

"You've had enough fun, now, it's my time, and you, are going to be the main event."

That voice, girly, young yet, there was no innocence in it, but what disturbed Frisk the most wasn't the feeling of, bad, coming from inside the voice, it was that the voice came from her own body.

She felt something, something dark inside her body, commanding it, yet when she tried to force it out, this force punished her, not merely with pain, but images of gut wrenching potential.

But as Frisk suffered this, this entity giggled, whatever it was, was enjoying the harm it was inflicting on her.

"This is MY body now, don't fight, or fight, it will make it so much more fun for me to stay inside here."

There was no way to deny that whatever this was, was capable of following through with its threats.

"Oh and, Frisk? Call me, Chara…"

She giggled, completely in control of this human girl's body, now, she could do whatever she wanted.

And something, immediately came to mind.

"We are going to have so much fun, partner."

Chara, left the place that her host fell, leaving behind the bed of golden flowers that Frisk was resting on mere moments ago.

" _What, do you want?"_

Chara smiled before answering Frisk's mental question, careful not to usher a word so that she wouldn't alert the person that they were about to encounter.

"I have what I want, now, I can have fun again."

That cryptic reply made little sense to Frisk and she felt that, she wasn't going to be getting a real answer from this, Chara, not that it mattered.

They ran into a talking Golden Flower, it called itself Flowey.

Frisk remembered this, each time she returned this, flower would be here, waiting for her, poor Asriel, trapped in the body of a plant.

But what happened next, surprised the captive.

Flowey tried to hurt her with his 'Friendliness pellets', but Chara, easily sidestepped them, again and again, despite him asking her to let them hit her.

Eventually, Flowey stopped and spoke.

Yet Chara, seemed completely uninterested in whatever he had to say, she even seemed bored when hundreds of the flower's attacks surrounded her, no chance to escape but instead of being afraid. Chara counted down silently.

3…

The attacks started to close in.

2…

They were almost right on top of Chara, yet she seemed more interested in the nails of her new body as she continued counting.

1…

Flowey, was stopped.

Balls of fire slammed against the flower, forcing it to retreat.

Toriel Dreemurr saved her.

Frisk could hardly believe this, Chara, knew that Tori would come to her rescue, no, she knew that Toriel would come to Frisk's rescue, just as she always has.

She knew, right down to the second.

" _What ARE you?"_

Chara silently giggled before sending a bolt of pain throughout Frisk's being, getting the message through that she was bothering her.

….

Frisk, could do nothing as Chara was taken by Toriel, she tried to tell her to stop, to run, to not get near her, but, Toriel would never hear her silent cries…

Not now….

Clockwork…

That was all that Frisk could associate with the efficiency of this, thing that had taken her over.

She was merciless whenever she encountered another monster, untouchable in a fight and absolutely giddy when she took the life of a monster, turning the poor being into dust.

She was unstoppable, the only one to be spared was Napstablook, a ghost, you can't kill a ghost.

Frisk's only solace was knowing that Toriel was not with her right now, she had gone on ahead to prepare the surprise cinnamon-butterscotch pie for her.

Yet, at this pace, Chara would reach Toriel in mere moments, the puzzles of the ruins simply an annoyance for her as she solved them with no effort, the handful of monsters remaining to be slain were a short pleasure for her although they were a sickening encounter for Frisk, never before had she taken a life, and now, this thing was forcing her to take them all.

Every attempt to stop her, was only rewarded with laughter and pain.

"When will you learn hmm?"

" _GET OUT OF ME!"_

Chara laughed again, a bone chilling laugh of feigned innocence.

"Well, I see that you won't be giving up, hmm, let's see…"

As Chara pondered something to bring her host down the clear answer walked right to her.

Toriel…

She smiled.

Sure Chara was intending to do it anyway, but now, she would take her time with this one, not just to teach Frisk a lesson, but also to punish the monster for foolishly calling her 'My Child', with no idea as to the hidden truth that she would never be able to see, let alone accept.

" _No, Don't you dare!"_

"Oh, I dare."

"Did you say something my child?"

Chara shook her head in response to Toriel's question.

"Very well, come with me."

No time wasted, Frisk remembered this, Toriel would show her around a bit, take her to her room and rush off to go check on the pie.

And as she remembered, everything happened in that order.

"So predictable hmm?"

" _You know?"_

Chara giggled before saying that she merely had a feeling.

But something happened.

Something that neither Frisk nor Chara was prepared for.

Something that never happened before.

They both heard the telltale sound from the firing of a certain summoned construct.

Chara immediately sprinted to the exit of the ruins, gripping tightly the toy knife she found.

…

There it was, the entrance to the rest of the underground, blown to bits, on Chara's side of the former entrance stood Toriel in shock and on the other, stood two figures, barely visible through the dust, one tall and one short.

This, wasn't supposed to happen.


	43. Chapter 43 Darkness Halted

Chara couldn't believe it, why, why was this happening!?

" _Is that-?"_

Before Frisk could confirm her suspicions Toriel stood between her and the pair of strangers.

"Who are you?"

"My, my, I am surprised that you would forget me ma'am."

The tall one waved some of the dust away to make it easier for her to see him.

If disbelief was a virus, than it had infected Toriel as well as made Chara extremely sick.

"Now, move away from that human so we can save her."

Toriel immediately brought her powers to bare, lighting several spheres of flame her.

"Tori, please, we don't want to hurt you."

That voice froze Chara in her tracks, not from her recognizing it, but from Frisk immediately remembering it.

"You-"

Toriel couldn't finish her sentence before the shorter one interrupted her.

"Yeah, now please, I have a score to settle…"

Chara didn't know what was going on but what she did know was this, she was in danger, and she needed to solve this, problem that has come before her right now.

" _NO!"_

Frisk's protests seemed to go unanswered as Chara made her move on Toriel, she would be an easy kill.

She would have been.

The short one flung his hand at her, and with that motion dozens of bones were sent her way, forming a safe place momentarily between Chara and Toriel, and it offered Toriel the chance to see that her 'child' was going to kill her.

"Toriel, get over her, now."

"I recommend you listen to my grandson, he has a long standing, shall we say, debt, to collect on from that spirit for abusing that girl." Stated Gaster.

The genius scientist had his magical eyes lit up but that wasn't of any concern compared to the sight of Sans.

Both his arcane eyes, bright blue and dark purple were lit like blazing inferno's yet no harm was being brought to his body.

The comedian, was out for blood.

It was blunt obvious, how could it not be, the pair knew Chara was forcibly controlling Frisk, but how? What happened?

Toriel couldn't argue, she headed to Sans and Gaster, when Chara tried to interfere she was rewarded with a wall of bone attacks.

"Gast, she's mine…."

"I wouldn't dare have it any other way…"

Toriel saw her formerly dead friend prepare an array of attacks surrounding them both, Chara, wasn't going to be getting near them.

Sans on the other hand merely stepped a bit away from them.

"So, Brat, how does it feel? How does it feel knowing you're going to die here?"

"We'll see about that, comed-"

She couldn't finish her sentence, Sans, pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at her, a REAL knife.

"You're going to need that, Brat."

She didn't care why he was doing this, he foolishly handed her a real weapon and she was going to use it.

She reached for it and naturally gripped it as she sprinted forward to kill him.

And yet, despite Chara's speed, he was faster.

Easily he dodged her and fired on her in a heartbeat with a Gaster Blaster.

The beam ripped through her arm like it was nothing, Chara screamed in pain and fell down.

"How does it feel Brat? To have everything taken from you?"

Chara felt, nothing from where the arm was, yet, when she looked at its former place, the arm was still there.

"What."

"Only the void can kill me and you Chara, well, now, also only Sans, thanks to your actions."

Gaster's smile remained as he saw the disbelief in her eyes, but there was little time for her to waste.

Chara immediately got back to her feet and faced Sans, only to be too slow to dodge the boney fist that impacted against her jaw, sending her flying back.

"Come on Brat, you killed off Papi, and Undyne, and everyone else, what's the matter?"

Toriel didn't understand, but Gaster merely told her he will explain when it is done.

"Is this old bonehead too tough for you?"

Chara engaged him in close combat, trying her absolute best to silence the skeleton forever, but she was failing, miserably.

"Well, that's too bad."

He grabbed her hand and in one fluid motion, went breaking her wrist to slamming her away with his other fist.

Chara rolled away, her eyes locked on the broken wrist when she stopped, she thought that, maybe what kept her alive for so long, could help with this, but before she could try to apply this idea, Sans attacked.

A series of varying attacks, several bones lodged into her arms and legs, pinning her down to the ground, accompanied by Gaster Blaster firing at her limbs one by one.

He was enjoying this

This was his chance to punish Chara.

And he was going to make sure that this, she would never forget.

….

The sight of Sans's near sadistic torture was, unnerving for Gaster.

"What, is he doing?!"

"He's taking his revenge on the spirit inside, she brought him considerable harm and this, pales in comparison to what she did to him."

"What, did, she do?"

He tried to explain to her that Chara, had slaughtered, EVERYTHING in the underground, that Sans, remembers that and Toriel was surprisingly understanding, he was unsure of if she believed him or if she merely went along with it after seeing the girl try and take her life with no hesitation.

"You disappoint me, Chara, you were untouchable the last time we fought."

"I, have, never, fought, you."

Sans chuckled as he looked at her, sure the body was nearly unharmed, and the wounds from his bone attacks are easily healed with Gaster's aid, but he also saw what Chara was like inside the body of Frisk.

Chara, was in ruins, her spirit barely intact, she had been ripped apart by the void energy laced in his attacks, she had been taken from a dominating spirit capable of crushing Frisk's will, all the way down to little more than a pale tattered shadow of a defeated weakling.

"You don't remember do you?"

"Remember, what?"

His chuckling continued.

"I'll admit Chara, if Gaster didn't come back, if he didn't find me napping at my post, if he didn't force me to remember, I wouldn't have been here, I wouldn't have stopped you."

She was confused, what was he talking about.

"I'm not surprised that you don't remember Brat, you may have watched with him, but you haven't been here, you haven't felt time reset, again and again, if it wasn't for Frisk exposing me so many times than I would have probably never remembered anyway, so Frisk, thank you, thank you for letting me stop this, demon child…"

Sans smiled as he placed his right hand above her face.

The dark purple energy quickly grew in his hand, before being sent straight down very much like a gaster blaster's beam.

Chara screamed as she was once and for all, ripped apart.

The unnatural voice of Chara was slowly drowned out by Frisk's true voice, Sans had to listen to her cries as he made certain nothing was left of the spirit that once brought so much harm and death.

Yet when it was over, he didn't hesitate to release the bones pinning her down and grab her in a tight hug.

The human girl's body was still aching all over from the attacks she had to endure but Sans's caring embrace calmed her greatly.

"Frisk, it's alright, you're safe, I won't ever let you go through it alone again okay?"

She didn't really understand what had happened, but overjoyed to know that Sans still cared about her, despite what his actions earlier hinted at.

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"You can be pretty scary sometimes you know?"

He chuckled before just accepting that fact.


	44. Chapter 44 New Future, For ALL

The nightmare of Chara had ended, and from that came not only the return of Gaster who seemed rather hesitant in revealing how he was able to be back, but also the most radical change to the underground.

After Frisk had freed Asriel from his flower form long enough to obliterate the barrier she had assisted in the quickest integration of monsters into human society, she had after all, had many, many lifetimes to find out what worked and what didn't.

Grillby opened a line of bars and restaurants all across the world, there was no denying that the flame was efficient when he was dedicated and it took little more than some encouragement from the fallen human to get him started.

Toriel ended up making the first inter monster/human school in existence, it was a slow and, difficult time but it quickly became the most impeccable school of all.

Asgore, ran a flower shop, assisted by Asriel, or as he still preferred, Flowey, the two of them made a rather successful shop and had brought the most beautiful flowers to bloom.

Gaster, well, Gaster quickly became known as one of the most brilliant and, unstable scientists of all, but he did have a very capable assistant in Alphys.

Papyrus had become after a lot, **A LOT** of lessons, quite the well renowned chef, and his best meal of all was in fact not pasta, but instead a form of grilled fish.

Undyne became a personal fitness instructor, the type that even had well trained military personal snap at attention, be they sergeants or recruits and her results were undeniable as well.

…

And then there was Sans…

Well, sometimes, there is such a thing, as too much information….

"So kid? You ready yet?"

"Give me a second Sans, and would you stop calling me kid? I'm over twenty already…"

Sans enjoyed poking fun at her by keeping the nickname he gave her since he saw her for the first time, Frisk Dreemurr, a human that fell down and freed all monsters, adopted by the monster king and queen.

Despite how he remembered the little girl running around in the underground, 'dating' her brother, she was no kid anymore.

And that was proven over repeatedly whenever he saw her, but tonight was different.

They were going out dancing, a local club owned Grillby, Sans had to admit that, although Frisk's apartment was a very nice place, it only served to make the waiting feel even longer.

Sans was wearing a simple set of blue jeans with a black shirt and black hoody, he had the skull of a skeleton imprinted on the back with a bright blue coming from one of the eye sockets, this one he had designed himself, he expected Frisk to be wonderful yet the skeleton could have sworn he felt his jaw bone drop when he saw Frisk walking down the stairs.

She wore a simple black T-shirt, covered by a custom black hoody, a skeleton on its back with a dark purple light in one of the eye sockets, Sans chuckled when he saw it.

Despite the attire, it fit exceptionally well on her, but her eyes had locked him, dark pupils, lost in oceans of bright green.

…

"Sans?"

"huh?"

"You were staring…"

He noticed Undyne standing next to a bright red Frisk, she was pretty fashionably dressed, attire more suited for a romantic night than dancing at a club.

"I wasn't…"

"Hay bonehead, you were staring for the past ten seconds without moving at least once…"

He chuckled embarrassedly at that fact.

"So you gonna say something 'bout how she looks or what?"

"You look amazing Frisk."

…

"You don't get out much do you?"

"Hay you forget what I am fishstick, not a lot of humans are that interested in talking to a pile a bones…"

The two were about to get into an argument, and it made Frisk giggle, that stopped them.

Instead the both laughed.

"Well, you need to stop making these human girls jealous with how little you weigh."

"ha-ha, right after you give those guys at the gym a fair chance at beating you."

They laughed further before finally heading their ways.

"You really do look good Frisk…"

She smiled and took his boney hand in her own.

"Thanks."

It wasn't a long walk to the club and Grillby was happy to see them, more so, he seemed to actually be enjoying himself quite a lot, the lively music, the exhilarating crowd, it was such a radical change from Grillby's natural element in the underground but it seemed to be doing wonders for the flame.

Sans and Frisk both laughed when they saw the usually upright and strict, near butler type living flame rock it out on the dancefloor, when Grillby saw them he quickly headed over to them and gave them both a hearty hug, careful to not let the scorching heat from his unprotected form reach either of them.

"It's good to see you two, please, come, I'll grab something good for you two to en-"

Grillby noticed the matching Jackets and chuckled.

"You two really do make a good set you know that right?"

Frisk smiled at that before taking off her jacket, she was about to take it to a nearby shelf but Grillby snapped at attention, like some hidden butler genes in him had woken up inside him.

He took both her and Sans's jackets, taking them off to somewhere, else, not the same shelf where most people put their belongings.

After Grillby returned he told them to go dance before heading over to the bartender, taking over for a while.

They both enjoyed the moment for quite some time before Grillby headed over to the DJ and had him stop the music.

"I'm sorry everyone but tonight we have a very special pair of guests here tonight, two people I call very close friends and if it wasn't for them I'd still be underground, Sans, Frisk, thank you. So, I want to dedicate this next song to you two, especially you Frisk, Sans you were just sort of there."

Grillby laughed before having the DJ put the music back on.

Sans and Frisk, the most unlikely of pairs, human and skeleton, had a wonderful night, the dancing was a lot of fun for them both.

They were both surprised to see all of their friends waiting with Grillby, the flame merely said that he was surprised to see everyone show up.

"Uh huh…"

"Ha-ha Sans let it go, so they were a little jealous of our night and wanted to come see."

Asgore laughed at that.

"Well, you were both a sight to see."

"Yes, better than what we had planned." Joked Papyrus.

"Well, it's too late for photo's we, are going home."

Sans looked at her in surprise but she merely winked at him, the skeleton was rather curious at what she had in mind.

"Stay safe punk, hay Grill mind if I-?"

He was quick to accept her request, Undyne and Alphys both quickly headed to the dance floor.

While everyone headed their own way, Frisk and Sans headed to the exit, though they were both surprised to see Grillby standing ready with their jackets for them.

They both quickly left but Frisk led them down a different street that should be a shortcut.

"So, what are you planning, kid?"

"Ha-ha your, never going to give up the kid thing are you?"

"Nope, sorry."

"It's alright, but for that, I won't tell you till we're home."

"Uh, whose home exactly?"

"Mine."

She only smiled at him, the light from the moon lighting her face up.

He sighed but as they walked ahead they both immediately remembered this place, Sans summoned up a massive Gaster blaster without hesitation still before they passed the alleyway where the skeleton was to be grabbed.

Yet something else entirely happened.

They saw Gaster standing in the alleyway, hunched over the group that would have made the grandest mistake in the world, they were all dead.

"Gast?"

"Sans, did, you do this?"

"No, you?"

"No, this is very, odd, I did find this however, it is addressed to you, but I found it on the body of one of them."

Gaster handed over a paper but what was written on it only made Sans's head spin.

" _Hello Comedian, first, let me say, ouch, that, hurt, but it was soooooooooo gooooooooood, thank you for letting me feel that, as you have guessed by now, I am alive, don't worry though, you did destroy me but this dark place, doesn't let me stay dead, and I'm not interested in taking Frisk again, even if I could I wouldn't, she already proved to be the perfect partner and I have no need for her further, have fun with this timeline, comedian. Signed, Chara…"_

The paper slid free from Sans's boney fingers as he finished reading it out loud.

Gaster felt it before Frisk did and he immediately grabbed her, pulling her away.

Both Sans's eyes lit up, sending his arcane energy in all directions, raw power that would have done serious harm to Frisk.

Sans's emotional release was luckily reigned back in, but both his eyes were still glowing, giving him a very, unnerving look.

If Chara was really alive, if she really did somehow survive and if she **EVER** came near frisk, in one way or another, he would make sure that she wasn't going to survive.

Frisk giggled before telling sans that he really could a scary monster when he wanted to be, Sans chuckled before relaxing, dimming the bright fires of his arcane eyes.


End file.
